# Understanding Novel Superconductors with Ab Initio Calculations

## TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in computational methods, especially ab initio techniques, for predicting and understanding the properties of both conventional and unconventional superconductors from first principles.

## Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of current ab initio computational methods and highlights recent material discoveries in the field of superconductivity.

## Key findings

- Predictive accuracy for conventional superconductors achieved
- Progress in modeling unconventional superconductors
- Examples of new superconducting materials discovered computationally

## Abstract

This chapter gives an overview of the progress in the field of computational superconductivity. Following the MgB2 discovery (2001), there has been an impressive acceleration in the development of methods based on Density Functional Theory to compute the critical temperature and other physical properties of actual superconductors from first-principles. State-of-the-art ab-initio methods have reached predictive accuracy for conventional (phonon-mediated) superconductors, and substantial progress is being made also for unconventional superconductors. The aim of this chapter is to give an overview of the existing computational methods for superconductivity, and present selected examples of material discoveries that exemplify the main advancements.