Electron-phonon interaction and the physical properties of metals

Theoretical work dealing with the electron-photon interaction (EPI) and its effects on the physical properties of metals is reviewed. The multi-particle approach and that using Landau's Fermi liquid theory are briefly described and their adequacy is demonstrated for low values of the adiabaticity parameter (omega(D)/epsilon(F))(1/2), where omega(D) is the characteristic photon frequency, and epsilon(F) the Fermi energy. Density functional methods for EPI calculations are outlined and, for a number of simple and transition metals, the results of calculations for EPI spectral densities and EPI-dependent physical properties are presented. The potential and the range of validity of EPI applications of the density functional method are discussed.