page_title: Pole figure
section_title: Geometry in the pole figure
hierarchical_section_title: Pole figure / Geometry in the pole figure
context_page_description: A pole figure is a graphical representation of the orientation of objects in space. For example, pole figures in the form of stereographic projections are used to represent the orientation distribution of crystallographic lattice planes in crystallography and texture analysis in materials science.
context_section_description: A Wulff net is used to read a pole figure.
  The stereographic projection of a trace is an arc. The Wulff net is arcs corresponding to planes which share a common axis in the (x,y) plane.
  If the pole and the trace of a plane are represented on the same diagram, then
  we turn the Wulff net so the trace corresponds to an arc of the net;
  the pole is situated on an arc, and the angular distance between this arc and the trace is 90°.
  Consider an axis Δ, and planes belonging to the zone of this axis, i.e. Δ is in all these planes, the intersection of all the planes is Δ. If we call P the plane that is perpendicular to Δ, then the normals to the planes all belong to P. Thus, the poles of the planes belonging to the same zone are on the trace of the plane P perpendicular to the axis.
caption: Wulff net, pole and trace of a plane
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