Space with 720° / not 2$\pi$ rotational symmetry? Is there a space with a 720°, but no 360° rotational symmetry? Possibly one that can be mapped onto something more conventional like R(3) or R(3,1)?
The reason I am asking is because in quantum mechanics, the wavefunctions of spin 1/2 particles are invariant under 720° / 4$\pi$ rotations, but not under rotations of 360° / 2$\pi$, due to their spinorial nature. I've been wondering if these particles can be expressed in an easier form in this other space, which is then projected or folded down into something more "physical".
 A: This is quite classical.
The point is that the group $\operatorname{SO}(3)$ is not symply connected, in fact
$$\pi_1(\operatorname{SO}(3)) \cong \mathbb{Z}/2 \mathbb{Z}.$$ 
Its universal cover is the group 
$$\operatorname{Spin}(3) \cong \operatorname{SU(2)}.$$
Hence we have an exact sequence
$$1 \to \mathbb{Z}/2 \mathbb{Z} \to \operatorname{SU(2)} \to \operatorname{SO}(3) \to 1,$$
where the kernel $\mathbb{Z}/2 \mathbb{Z}$ is the subgroup $\{I, -I \}$.
Geometrically, this corresponds to the fact that $SU(2)$ is isomorphic to the group of unit quaternions, that in turn can be used to represent rotations in 3-dimensional space, but only up to sign.
See this page about "orientation entanglement" and the links contained there for a "physical explaination" of this phenomenon and more details about $\textrm{SU}(2)$, quaternions and rotations in $\mathbb{R}^3$.
A: Not only spinors can be used to demonstrate that $360^\circ$ rotation is not an identity transformation. See http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/upload_library/22/Hasse/00029890.di991816.99p0601v.pdf (The Mercedes Knot Problem, by Aleksandar Jurisic) and http://www.pha.jhu.edu/~kgrizz/Documents/10-2-13/spinorSpanner.pdf (The Spinor Spanner, by Ethan D. Bolker). 
