> You could imagine, say, a 3D grid or lattice that you can shine a light through onto a piece of paper to get an irregular 2D pattern, which would be your quasicrystal.
This is where I lose it. I actually can't imagine such a thing. Every regular 3D crystal I imagine has a repeating pattern in its shadow. For every ray of light passing through one part of the 3D lattice, I can locate parallel rays that produce the same result in other parts of the lattice.
What am I missing here? Just not imagining the right lattice types? Or are we assuming a point-source of light so that no 2 rays are parallel?
This is where I lose it. I actually can't imagine such a thing. Every regular 3D crystal I imagine has a repeating pattern in its shadow. For every ray of light passing through one part of the 3D lattice, I can locate parallel rays that produce the same result in other parts of the lattice.
What am I missing here? Just not imagining the right lattice types? Or are we assuming a point-source of light so that no 2 rays are parallel?