Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2011
Condensed matter consists of positively charged atomic nuclei and the electron glue which holds them together. Although it is attractive to attempt to oilodl it by nentral atoms interacting via. relatively weak pairwise ‘effective interactions’ in genbreak down the predictive and inter;retative power of the analysis. Hence, there is no substitute to forging a parameter-free and quantitative theory of the complex degenerate Fermi liquid ‘glue’ to complement phenomenological calculations. Such theory is the general aim of ’first-principles’ calculations of the electronic structure. This talk will concern past present and future first-principles calculations relevant it the state of compositional order in metallic alloys. Special attention will be paid to phaase insta bilities induced by Fermi Surface effects.