Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-condensed-matter-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021/2/c/ii/solution

Subtracting the three acoustic phonon branches from the six displacement normal modes leaves
At small wavevector, these involve relative motion of the two atomic basis sites rather than a rigid translation of the primitive unit cell. Their angular frequencies remain nonzero at the zone centre. The count uses the primitive unit cell; using all eight chemical atoms in the conventional unit cell would spuriously multiply the number of distinct branches in the first Brillouin zone.

New to topics? Read the docs here!