  Bismuth displays puzzling superconducting properties. In its crystalline
equilibrium phase, it does not seem to superconduct at accessible low
temperatures. However, in the amorphous phase it displays superconductivity at
~ 6 K. Under pressure bismuth has been found to superconduct at Tcs that go
from 3.9 K to 8.5 K depending on the phase obtained. So the question is: what
electronic or vibrational changes occur that explains this radical
transformation in the conducting behavior of this material? In a recent
publication we argue that changes in the density of electronic and vibrational
states may account for the behavior observed in the amorphous phase with
respect to the crystal. We have now undertaken an ab initio computational study
of the effects of pressure alone maintaining the original crystalline structure
and compressing our supercell computationally. From the results obtained we
infer that if the crystal structure remains the same (except for the
contraction), no superconductivity will appear.
