  The observed "simple cubic" (sc) phase of elemental Ca at room temperature in
the 32-109 GPa range is, from linear response calculations, dynamically
unstable. By comparing first principle calculations of the enthalpy for five
sc-related (non-close-packed) structures, we find that all five structures
compete energetically at room temperature in the 40-90 GPa range, and three do
so in the 100-130 GPa range. Some competing structures below 90 GPa are
dynamically stable, i.e., no imaginary frequency, suggesting that these
sc-derived short-range-order local structures exist locally and can account for
the observed (average) "sc" diffraction pattern. In the dynamically stable
phases below 90 GPa, some low frequency phonon modes are present, contributing
to strong electron-phonon (EP) coupling as well as arising from the strong
coupling. Linear response calculations for two of the structures over 120 GPa
lead to critical temperatures in the 20-25 K range as is observed, and do so
without unusually soft modes.
