Acoustic axes conditions revised

Abstract

The explanation of the basic acoustic properties of crystals requires a recognition of the acoustic axes. To derive the acoustic axes in a given material, one requires both a workable method and the necessary and sufficient criteria for the existence of the acoustic axes in a partial propagation direction. This paper’s primary input is an alternate minimal polynomial-based system of acoustic axes conditions. In this approach, we derive a novel additional characteristic of acoustic axes: the directions in which the minimal polynomial of the third order is reduced to that of the second order. Next, we offer a general solution, that utilizes a scalar and a unit vector for defining the acoustic tensor along the acoustic axis. It is shown that the scalar matches the eigenvalue of the reduced acoustic tensor, and the vector corresponds to the polarization into the single eigenvalue direction. We use the minimal polynomial construction to demonstrate the equivalence of different acoustic axis criteria. We demonstrate the applicability of this approach to actual computations of the acoustic axes and their fundamental properties (phase speeds and polarizations) for high symmetry cases, such as isotropic materials and RTHC crystals.