Elastic waves in cubic crystals with positive or negative anisotropy of second-order elastic moduli

Elastic waves in cubic crystals are considered. A new classification of cubic crystals is proposed based on their elastic properties. All cubic crystals are shown to be divided into crystals with a positive or negative anisotropy of their second-order elastic moduli. The vibrational-branch spectra of crystals of these two types differ qualitatively in shape. The angular dependences of the polarization vectors are analyzed. The transverse component in quasi-longitudinal vibrations in cubic crystals is shown to be small and can be neglected. The longitudinal component in quasi-transverse modes is not small: its maximum value is 16.5% for Ge and reaches 27% for KCl.