Determination of Patterson group symmetry from sparse multi-crystal data sets in the presence of an indexing ambiguity

A method is presented to simultaneously resolve the crystal symmetry and indexing ambiguity from sparse data sets.
Combining X-ray diffraction data from multiple samples requires determination of the symmetry and resolution of any indexing ambiguity. For the partial data sets typical of in situ room-temperature experiments, determination of the correct symmetry is often not straightforward. The potential for indexing ambiguity in polar space groups is also an issue, although methods to resolve this are available if the true symmetry is known. Here, a method is presented to simultaneously resolve the determination of the Patterson symmetry and the indexing ambiguity for partial data sets.