Hexagonal projected symmetries

Abstract

In the study of pattern formation in symmetric physical systems, a three-dimensional structure in thin domains is often modelled as a two-dimensional one. This paper is concerned with functions in {\bb R}^{3} that are invariant under the action of a crystallographic group and the symmetries of their projections into a function defined on a plane. A list is obtained of the crystallographic groups for which the projected functions have a hexagonal lattice of periods. The proof is constructive and the result may be used in the study of observed patterns in thin domains, whose symmetries are not expected in two-dimensional models, like the black-eye pattern.