Upper limit of the transition temperature of superconducting materials

What can data science tell us about finding new superconductors?

“…What Liu et al. 5 have proposed in this issue of Patterns is a close correspondence between the upper limit of Tc (T c max ) in classes or groups of superconductors and the energy levels of valence electrons.…”

“…Liu et al. 5 conclude that the energy interval between the last occupied and first unoccupied valence bands of the material appears to be linearly correlated on a log-log scale with T c max in groups of related superconductors, such as cuprates and Fe-based and heavy fermions. The features incorporated in the data model relate to electron-electron interactions between orbitals as a component necessary to interpret high-Tc superconductivity.…”

“…However, Liu et al. 5 speculate from the statistics of their features that a parameter related to the band energy differences, ΔE, could be relevant. For each subgroup of superconductors, they then perform first-principles electronic calculations (DFT) to evaluate ΔE using the code CASTEP to observe the correlation with T c max .…”