  The significant discrepancy between first-principles calculations and
experimental analyses for the relaxation of the (001) surface of rhodium has
been a puzzle for some years. In this paper we present density functional
theory calculations using the local-density approximation and the generalized
gradient approximation of the exchange-correlation functional. We investigate
the thermal expansion of the surface and the possibility of surface magnetism.
The results throw light on several, hitherto overlooked, aspects of metal
surfaces. We find, that, when the free energy is considered, density-functional
theory provides results in good agreement with experiments.
