%0 Journal Article %T Electronic Structure, Bonding and Optical Spectrum of MgB2 %A V. P. Antropov %A K. D. Belashchenko %A M. van Schilfgaarde %A S. N. Rashkeev %J Physics %D 2001 %I arXiv %X This paper contains both recently published and original results concerning the electronic structure, bonding and relevant properties of (Mg-Al)B2. We analyse the electronic structure formation of bulk and surface states, study the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rates, compare the theoretical and experimental estimates of the density of states at the Fermi level, and review the electron-phonon coupling calculations. The analysis of optical properties of MgB2 and AlB2 is also provided. %U http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0107123v1