Magnetic susceptibility of insulators from first principles.

We present an {ital ab} {ital initio} approach for the computation of the magnetic susceptibility {chi} of insulators. The approach is applied to compute {chi} in diamond and in solid neon using density functional theory in the local density approximation, obtaining good agreement with experimental data. In solid neon, we predict an observable dependence of {chi} upon pressure. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}