  A routine crystallography technique, crystal structure analysis, is rarely
performed in computational condensed matter research. The lack of methods to
identify and characterize crystal structures reliably in particle simulation
data complicates the comparison of simulation outcomes to experiment and the
discovery of new materials. Algorithms are sought that not only classify local
structure but also analyze the type and degree of crystallographic order. Here,
we develop an algorithm that analyzes point group symmetry directly from
particle coordinates. The algorithm operates on functions defined on the
surface of the sphere, such as the bond orientational order diagram. Other use
cases are the orientation of crystals and adoption as generalized order
parameters for detecting the appearance of order as well as following its
development.
