First-principles elastic properties of α-Pu

Density-functional electronic-structure calculations have been used to investigate the ambient pressure and low temperature elastic properties of the ground-state phase of plutonium metal. The electronic structure and correlation effects are modeled within a fully relativistic antiferromagnetic treatment with a generalized gradient approximation for the electron exchange and correlation functional. The 13 independent elastic constants, for the monoclinic -Pu system, are calculated for the observed geometry. A comparison of the results with measured data from recent resonant ultrasound spectroscopy for a cast sample is made.