Colloquium: Room temperature superconductivity: The roles of theory and materials design

Superconductivity, discovered in 1911 and first theoretically understood in 1957, remains a fascinating phenomenon for reasons both fundamental and applied. Reliably calculating the critical temperature of a given material, and even more so predicting it, turned out to be a considerable challenge. This Colloquium explains how theoretical developments have led to increasingly reliable predictions that have culminated in the discovery of the hydride materials that display superconductivity under high pressure at temperatures just shy of room temperature.