Microscopic Basis of Miedema's Empirical Theory of Transition-Metal Compound Formation

The success of Miedema's empirical theory of transition-metal compound formation has given credence to the physical picture used in its construction. Self-consistently calculated electron densities, state densities, and heats of formation reveal this picture to be inappropriate. Miedema's success is shown to result from the implicit incorporation of a dominant chemical trend, which is well described by Pettifor's $d$-bond model.