Electron-phonon coupling in bcc and 9Rlithium

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Abstract
We test the hypothesis that the observed absence of superconductivity in Li results from weak electron-phonon coupling in the low-temperature 9R phase. A first-principles study of the phonon spectrum and electron-phonon coupling constant in bcc and 9R Li is presented. The electron-phonon coupling constant is found to be similar in bcc and 9R Li, and in both phases it is too strong to be consistent with the experimental upper bound on the superconducting transition temperature within the standard theory of phonon-mediated superconductivity.