Chiral coefficient-a measure of the amount of structural chirality

Abstract

A new concept of quantitative measurement of chiral structure is introduced and labelled as chiral coefficient chi . A distinction is made between geometric and physical chiralities and chi is defined for various physical cases. Few general geometrical features are discussed and it is shown that for every chiral body there exists a natural z direction depending on the physical property treated. Possible practical applications of this concept are discussed. A few simple examples of the chiral coefficient of mass chi m for chiral molecules are treated.