| This thesis contains several applications of the first-principles electronic-structure theory with special emphasis in parts of the thesis on the geometrical aspects of the theory. We start by reviewing the basics of the first-principles electronic-structure methods which are then used throughout the thesis. The first application of these methods is on the analysis of the stability and lattice dynamics of alpha- and beta-cristobalite phases of SiO2. We also map the complete low-energy landscape connecting these two structures and give implications on the phase transition in this compound. Next we study a family of Pbnm perovskites that are promising candidates for silicon-compatible high-K dielectrics. We calculate their structure and dielectric response, and compare with experimental results where available. The third application of these methods is to the large isosymmetric reorientation of oxygen octahedra rotation axes in epitaxially strained perovskites. We explain the origin of the peculiar energy landscape topology as a function of epitaxial strain. In the part of the thesis devoted to the geometrical aspects of electronic structure theory, we begin by extending the concept of electronic polarization to a Chern insulators. These insulators are characterized by a non-zero off-diagonal sigma_xy conductivity tensor component, quantized in units of e 2/h. Finally we discuss another geometrical quantity, the Chern-Simons orbital magnetoelectric coupling. We present a first-principles based calculation of this quantity in several compounds, and motivated by recent developments in the theory of topological insulators, we speculate about the existence of "large-theta materials," in which this kind of coupling could be unusually large. |
