Electron-phonon interactions and related physical properties of metals from linear-response theory

TL;DR

This paper uses ab initio linear-response calculations to analyze electron-phonon interactions and predict superconducting and transport properties in various elemental metals with high accuracy.

Contribution

It introduces a method combining linear-response theory and density functional calculations to accurately describe electron-phonon interactions in metals.

Findings

Accurate spectral functions for electron-phonon interactions obtained.

Predicted superconducting and transport properties match experimental data within 10%.

Method applicable to multiple elemental metals.

Abstract

Spectral distribution functions of electron-phonon interaction $\alpha^2F(\omega )$ obtained by ab initio linear--response calculations are used to describe various superconducting and transport properties in a number of elemental metals such as Al,Cu,Mo,Nb,Pb,Pd,Ta, and V. Their lattice dynamics and self-consistently screened electron-phonon coupling are evaluated within local density functional theory and using linear-muffin-tin -orbital basis set. We conclude that our method provides the description of electron-phonon interactions in tested materials with the accuracy 10%.