The five independent elastic moduli of single-crystalline hcp cobalt were determined by inelastic x-ray scattering to 39 GPa and compared to ultrasonic measurements and first principles calculations. In general the agreement is good, in particular, for the evolution of the longitudinal sound velocity in the $a\mathrm{\text{−}}c$ plane. This confirms the calculations, suggesting that a similar evolution is valid for hcp iron, the main constituent of the Earth's inner core, up to the highest investigated pressure. Our results represent an important benchmark to further refine ab initio calculations.

• Received 6 August 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.215505