Elastic constant pressure derivatives and stability of the bcc phase of InTl alloys

Hydrostatic-pressure derivatives of the elastic stiffness constants have been measured ultrasonically in a bcc InTl alloy of composition near the eutectoid. The shear modulus $\text{1}\text{2}\text{(C}{}_{11}\text{?C}{}_{12}\text{)}$ is small, but does not soften under pressure: the eutectoid reaction is not directly associated with a mode softening shear instability. Anharmonic contributions to the excess vibrational entropy from the q 〈110〉, e 〈1$\text{1}$0〉 modes which stabilize the bcc structure are small compared with the harmonic contributions.