Calculated Structural Phase-Transitions in the Alkaline-Earth Metals

The local-density approximation and the linear muffin-tin orbital method have been used within the atomic-sphere approximation to calculate structural energy differences for all the alkaline earth metals at zero temperature. At ordinary pressure the calculations predict the crystal structure sequence hcp→fcc→bcc as a function of atomic number. As a function of pressure they predict the structure sequence fcc→bcc→hcp. The structural transitions and the onset of superconductivity under pressure are correlated with the d occupation number.