  The elastic, thermodynamic, electronic, and optical properties of recently
discovered and potentially technologically important transition metal boride
NbRuB, have been investigated using the density functional formalism. Both
generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and local density approximation (LDA)
were used for geometrical optimization and for estimation of various elastic
moduli and constants. The optical properties of NbRuB have been studied for the
first time with different photon polarizations. The frequency (energy)
dependences of various optical constants compliment quite well to the essential
features of the electronic band structure calculations. Debye temperature of
NbRuB has been estimated form the thermodynamical study. All these theoretical
estimates have been compared with published results, where available, and
discussed in detail. Both electronic band structure and optical conductivity
reveal robust metallic characteristics. NbRuB possesses significant elastic and
electronic anisotropy. The effects of electronic band structure and Debye
temperature on the emergence of superconductivity have also been analyzed.
