Self-consistent calculation of electron-phonon couplings

An approach is described in which the electron-phonon coupling is evaluated by using the change in the self-consistent crystal potential caused by a ``frozen-phonon'' distortion of the lattice. Both the vibrational and electronic properties of the solid are computed directly and used for the electron-phonon coupling calculation. The method can be used to examine electron-phonon interactions without any empirical information about the electronic or vibrational states of the material. Recent applications of the method include the successful prediction of superconductivity in highly compressed silicon.