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mirror symmetry
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Diagram showing four types of translation-free symmetry in crystals: a sixfold axis of rotation, a fourfold axis of inversion, a center of symmetry, and a mirror plane, each illustrated with a labeled purple crystal shape and explanatory text.
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mirror symmetry

physics
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Diagram showing four types of translation-free symmetry in crystals: a sixfold axis of rotation, a fourfold axis of inversion, a center of symmetry, and a mirror plane, each illustrated with a labeled purple crystal shape and explanatory text.
symmetry elements Translation-free symmetry elements as expressed by the morphology of crystals showing a sixfold axis of rotation, fourfold axis of inversion, centre of symmetry, and mirror/symmetry plane.

In physics, parity refers to a property of a system's wave function, essentially its mirror-image symmetry. A parity transformation inverts spatial coordinates (x, y, z to \u2212x, \u2212y, \u2212z). If the system remains identical after this transformation, it has even parity; if it becomes negative, it has odd parity. For a long time, it was believed that parity was always conserved in fundamental interactions, meaning physical laws were indifferent to mirror reflections.

However, in 1956, it was proposed that parity is not conserved in interactions governed by the weak force. Experimental evidence later confirmed this, showing that particles involved in weak interactions can exhibit a built-in "handedness." While parity is not conserved alone, it is believed to be conserved when combined with charge conjugation (C) and time reversal (T) operations, forming the CPT theorem.12

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