Monte Carlo determination of the elastic constants of the hard-sphere solid

Monte Carlo simulation is used to study the elastic properties of the classical hard-sphere solid. The elastic constants $C_{11}$, $C_{12}$, and $C_{44}$ are computed for the fcc lattice structure at the melting density. Poisson’s ratio is computed and is shown to be positive. These ‘‘exact’’ results are compared with those of simple models of the hard-sphere solid.