Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
A calculation of the effective elastic moduli of a super-lattice, in terms of the elastic moduli of its constituents, is presented. Contrary to what has been found in many real systems, these calculations show that in the long wavelength limit the effective elastic moduli are independent of the modulation wavelength. A discussion of the experimental results on Nb/Cu, Mo/Ni and Au/Cr shows that the elastic anomalies can be understood on the basis of concomitant changes in lattice spacings.