  In linear anisotropic elasticity, the elastic properties of a medium are
described by the fourth rank elasticity tensor C. The decomposition of C into a
partially symmetric tensor M and a partially antisymmetric tensors N is often
used in the literature. An alternative, less well-known decomposition, into the
completely symmetric part S of C plus the reminder A, turns out to be
irreducible under the 3-dimensional general linear group. We show that the
SA-decomposition is unique, irreducible, and preserves the symmetries of the
elasticity tensor. The MN-decomposition fails to have these desirable
properties and is such inferior from a physical point of view. Various
applications of the SA-decomposition are discussed: the Cauchy relations
(vanishing of A), the non-existence of elastic null Lagrangians, the
decomposition of the elastic energy and of the acoustic wave propagation. The
acoustic or Christoffel tensor is split in a Cauchy and a non-Cauchy part. The
Cauchy part governs the longitudinal wave propagation. We provide explicit
examples of the effectiveness of the SA-decomposition. A complete class of
anisotropic media is proposed that allows pure polarizations in arbitrary
directions, similarly as in an isotropic medium.
