I. Galanakis, G. Bihlmayer, N. Papanikolaou, R. Zeller, S. Blügel, and P. H. Dederichs

Using two different full-potential ab initio techniques we introduce a very simple rule based on the number of broken first-neighbor bonds to determine the surface energies of the noble metals and fcc transition metals . When a bond is broken, the rearrangement of the electronic charge for these metals does not lead to a significant change of the remaining bonds. Thus the energy needed to break a bond is independent of the surface orientation. This novel finding can lead to the development of simple models to describe the energetics of a surface like step and kink formation, crystal growth, alloy formation, equilibrium shape of mesoscopic crystallites and surface faceting.