This document provides an introduction to direct methods for solving the phase problem in crystallography. It discusses several important phase relationships that are used in direct methods, including:
1) The E1 relationship, which estimates the phase of reflection 2H based on the magnitudes of EH and E2H. It shows that for large EH and E2H, it is likely the phase of 2H is 0.
2) How strong and weak structure factor magnitudes relate to how atoms are distributed with respect to lattice planes. Strong reflections occur when atoms lie near planes, weak when atoms are spread out.
3) How normalized structure factors EH account for differences in scattering due to diffraction angle, allowing comparisons