Symmetry and magnetic structure determination: Developments in refinement techniques and examples

Group Theory techniques can aid greatly the determination of magnetic structures. The integration of their calculations into new and existing refinement programs is an ongoing development that will simplify and make more rigorous the analysis of experimental data. This paper presents an overview of the practical application of symmetry analysis to the determination of magnetic structures. Details are given of the different programs that perform these calculations and how refinements can be carried out using their results. Examples are presented that show how such analysis can be important in the interpretation of magnetic diffraction data, and to our reasoning of the causes for the observed ordering.