  The spin- and charge-density-wave order parameters of the itinerant
antiferromagnet chromium are measured directly with non-resonant x-ray
diffraction as the system is driven towards its quantum critical point with
high pressure using a diamond anvil cell. The exponential decrease of the spin
and charge diffraction intensities with pressure confirms the harmonic scaling
of spin and charge, while the evolution of the incommensurate ordering vector
provides important insight into the difference between pressure and chemical
doping as means of driving quantum phase transitions. Measurement of the charge
density wave over more than two orders of magnitude of diffraction intensity
provides the clearest demonstration to date of a weakly-coupled, BCS-like
ground state. Evidence for the coexistence of this weakly-coupled ground state
with high-energy excitations and pseudogap formation above the ordering
temperature in chromium, the charge-ordered perovskite manganites, and the blue
bronzes, among other such systems, raises fundamental questions about the
distinctions between weak and strong coupling.
