Theory for Reliable First-Principles Prediction of the Superconducting Transition Temperature

TL;DR

This paper reviews a theoretical framework for accurately predicting superconducting transition temperatures from first principles, demonstrating its application to various superconductors in different coupling regimes.

Contribution

It introduces a practical strategy for first-principles prediction of Tc and illustrates its effectiveness on different classes of superconductors.

Findings

Successful prediction of Tc for alkali and alkaline-earth intercalated graphites.

Accurate Tc calculations for alkali-doped fullerides.

Framework applicable to both weak and strong coupling superconductors.

Abstract

A review is given for the theoretical framework to give a reliable prediction of the superconducting transition temperature Tc from first principles, together with a practical strategy for its application to actual materials with illustrations of the results of Tc calculated for superconductors in the weak-coupling region like the alkali and alkaline-earth intercalated graphites as well as those in the strong-coupling region like the alkali-doped fullerides.