Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Field · Physical Sciences

Physics and Astronomy research

Physics and Astronomy is a field of the Physical Sciences. Science Explorer counts 4.2M research works in it since 1950. 22.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: study of matter and its motion, along with related concepts such as energy and force.

Research works
4.2M
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
925k
per year above
Top-10% rate
22.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
104
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+0%
the tick is no change

What is Physics and Astronomy research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Dark Matter, Black Holes, Nonlinear Optics, Solar Wind, Entanglement, Network Dynamics. Gaining share since 2009–13: Ionosphere, Magnetosphere, Gravitational Waves, Network Dynamics, Social Influence. Losing share: Band Parameters, Nanowires, Electronic Structure Calculations, Superconductivity.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Dark Matter29k◆ 1.01×3 topics
  2. Black Holes27k◆ 1.03×3 topics
  3. Nonlinear Optics27k◆ 1.02×3 topics
  4. Solar Wind26k▲ 1.24×2 topics
  5. Entanglement23k◆ 1.15×3 topics
  6. Network Dynamics22k▲ 1.31×2 topics
  7. Social Influence22k▲ 1.31×2 topics
  8. Supernovae21k▲ 1.18×2 topics
  9. Quantum Gravity21k◆ 1.07×4 topics
  10. Particle Physics20k◆ 1.02×2 topics
  11. Electronic Structure Calculations20k▼ 0.75×2 topics
  12. Microresonators20k◆ 1.05×2 topics
  13. Spintronics18k◆ 0.90×2 topics
  14. Cosmology18k◆ 1.12×3 topics
  15. Star Formation18k◆ 0.96×2 topics
  16. Monte Carlo Simulation17k◆ 0.88×2 topics
  17. Optical Lattices17k◆ 1.13×3 topics
  18. General Relativity17k▲ 1.17×2 topics
  19. Quantum Entanglement17k◆ 1.02×2 topics
  20. Lattice QCD17k▼ 0.86×2 topics
  21. Optical Frequency Combs17k◆ 1.14×1 topic
  22. Ultrafast Lasers17k◆ 1.14×1 topic
  23. Molecular Dynamics16k▼ 0.84×2 topics
  24. Quantum Information16k◆ 1.00×2 topics
  25. Dark Energy16k▲ 1.17×2 topics
  26. Superconductivity15k▼ 0.81×4 topics
  27. Accretion Disks15k◆ 0.98×2 topics
  28. Magnetic Fields15k◆ 0.98×2 topics
  29. Renormalization Group15k◆ 1.07×2 topics
  30. Ionosphere15k▲ 1.43×1 topic
  31. Magnetosphere15k▲ 1.43×1 topic
  32. Gravitational Waves15k▲ 1.40×2 topics
  33. Band Parameters15k▼ 0.72×2 topics
  34. Nanowires15k▼ 0.72×2 topics
  35. Cosmic Rays15k▲ 1.25×2 topics
  36. Neutrinos15k▲ 1.25×2 topics
  37. Turbulence14k◆ 0.92×2 topics
  38. Solar System Abundances14k◆ 1.03×1 topic
  39. Terrestrial Planets14k◆ 1.03×1 topic
  40. Higgs Boson14k◆ 0.93×1 topic

Which countries lead Physics and Astronomy research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and Germany rank highest in Physics and Astronomy. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (100k and 87k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #3 all time 20.7% top 10% · 100k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 21.3% top 10% · 87k works
  3. 3 Germany · #2 all time 24.5% top 10% · 26k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom · #5 all time 24.9% top 10% · 18k works
  5. 5 France · #4 all time 22.1% top 10% · 21k works
  6. 6 Japan · #6 all time 17.4% top 10% · 22k works
  7. 7 Italy · #7 all time 25.3% top 10% · 18k works
  8. 8 Switzerland · #8 all time 30.2% top 10% · 5.7k works
  9. 9 Spain · #11 all time 24.8% top 10% · 10k works
  10. 10 India · #16 all time 16.7% top 10% · 26k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 79 countries ranked in Physics and Astronomy. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Physics and Astronomy

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 100k works
  2. 2 United States 87k works
  3. 3 Germany 26k works
  4. 4 India 26k works
  5. 5 Russia 24k works
  6. 6 Japan 22k works
  7. 7 France 21k works
  8. 8 Italy 18k works
  9. 9 United Kingdom 18k works
  10. 10 Spain 10k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 28.4%United States: 24.6%Germany: 7.5%India: 7.4%6 others listed: 32.1%28%largest
China100k · 28.4%United States87k · 24.6%Germany26k · 7.5%India26k · 7.4%6 others listed113k · 32.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Physics and Astronomy research?

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States) ranks first in Physics and Astronomy on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States · Cambridge · #1 all time 37.7% top 10% · 1.3k works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #44 all time 23.4% top 10% · 4k works
  3. 3 Tsinghua University China · Beijing · #51 all time 26.4% top 10% · 1.8k works
  4. 4 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France · Paris · #8 all time 25.3% top 10% · 3.1k works
  5. 5 Princeton University United States · Princeton · #5 all time 40.1% top 10% · 1k works
  6. 6 Stanford University United States · Stanford · #2 all time 29.9% top 10% · 1k works
  7. 7 California Institute of Technology United States · Pasadena · #6 all time 34.4% top 10% · 1.1k works
  8. 8 ETH Zurich Switzerland · Zurich · #20 all time 31.6% top 10% · 1k works
  9. 9 University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford · #22 all time 33.4% top 10% · 1.1k works
  10. 10 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing 26.0% top 10% · 2.8k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 1,646 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Physics and Astronomy.

Top 100 Physics and Astronomy institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences China 4k works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France 3.1k works
  3. 3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China 2.8k works
  4. 4 University of Science and Technology of China China 2.2k works
  5. 5 The University of Tokyo Japan 2.1k works
  6. 6 Tsinghua University China 1.8k works
  7. 7 Lomonosov Moscow State University Russia 1.7k works
  8. 8 Peking University China 1.6k works
  9. 9 University of California, Berkeley United States 1.6k works
  10. 10 Shanghai Jiao Tong University China 1.6k works

Who are the leading researchers in Physics and Astronomy?

Among the most productive authors in Physics and Astronomy, E. L. Wright, Edward J. Wollack and David N. Spergel rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 E. L. Wright United States · #13 worldwide 9.3k citations · 228 works
  2. 2 Edward J. Wollack United States · #83 worldwide 7.2k citations · 212 works
  3. 3 David N. Spergel United States · #104 worldwide 7.9k citations · 198 works
  4. 4 W. H. Bell United States · #146 worldwide 5.5k citations · 171 works
  5. 5 A. J. Lowe United States · #192 worldwide 5.4k citations · 168 works
  6. 6 P. J. Bell United Kingdom · #221 worldwide 5.4k citations · 144 works
  7. 7 R. Beccherle France · #224 worldwide 5.1k citations · 154 works
  8. 8 A. Khodinov Germany · #236 worldwide 5.6k citations · 184 works
  9. 9 S. Walsh Russia · #241 worldwide 5.5k citations · 161 works
  10. 10 F. Linde France · #244 worldwide 6k citations · 205 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,982 highest-output authors in Physics and Astronomy. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Physics and Astronomy researchers

Where is Physics and Astronomy research done?

The largest centres of Physics and Astronomy research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Moscow (Russia), Paris (France) and Shanghai (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Australind, Laprida and Salerno.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 24k works
  2. 2 Moscow Russia 11k works
  3. 3 Paris France 8.1k works
  4. 4 Shanghai China 7.2k works
  5. 5 Tokyo Japan 6.7k works
  6. 6 Nanjing China 5.5k works
  7. 7 Xi'an China 4.5k works
  8. 8 Hefei China 4.3k works
  9. 9 Wuhan China 4.3k works
  10. 10 Guangzhou China 3.8k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. AustralindAU · 78.4 works39×
  2. LapridaAR · 23.4 works39×
  3. Salerno25.8 works38×
  4. Sakyō KuJP · 36.9 works37×
  5. Nizhniy ArkhyzRU · 279.6 works37×
  6. TautenburgDE · 33.1 works36×
  7. Pino TorineseIT · 88.9 works35×
  8. OndřejovCZ · 133.4 works34×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Physics and Astronomy than the world average.

See Physics and Astronomy on the map

Physics and Astronomy research by country

The best places for Physics and Astronomy research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Physics and Astronomy?

Among universities, judged by research, California Institute of Technology, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati and Université Paris-Saclay score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 28.55%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →California Institute of Technology: 1,145, 34.4%Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati: 316, 38.8%Université Paris-Saclay: 845, 28.0%Université Paris Sciences et Lettres: 288, 29.3%National Research Nuclear University MEPhI: 621, 10.3%Hefei University: 347, 29.1%Homi Bhabha National Institute: 637, 24.6%University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: 2,800, 26.0%Tata Institute of Fundamental Research: 545, 24.9%Princeton University: 1,031, 40.1%Scuola Internazional…California Institute…Université Paris Sci…Université Paris-Sac…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1California Institute of Technology United States 60.934.4%10.6×1,145 -18.2%
2Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati Italy 58.238.8%16.4×316 +9.3%
3Université Paris-Saclay France 56.528.0%4.8×845 +932.4%
4Université Paris Sciences et Lettres France 55.729.3%6.6×288 +3456.7%
5National Research Nuclear University MEPhI Russia 53.810.3%11.1×621 +210.8%
6Hefei University China 53.629.1%7.5×347 +242.0%
7Homi Bhabha National Institute India 53.024.6%6.7×637 +1107.0%
8University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China 52.626.0%3.7×2,800 +118.8%
9Tata Institute of Fundamental Research India 51.824.9%16.3×545 +6.7%
10Princeton University United States 51.340.1%5.2×1,031 -0.7%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Physics and Astronomy research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 0% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Advanced Radiotherapy Techniques, Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics and Cosmology and Gravitation Theories.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Advanced Radiotherapy Techniques+62%
  2. Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics+39%
  3. Cosmology and Gravitation Theories+39%
  4. Black Holes and Theoretical Physics+29%
  5. Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies+27%
  6. Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies+26%
  7. Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism-16%
  8. Theoretical and Computational Physics-18%
  9. Advanced Chemical Physics Studies-26%
  10. Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices-31%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Physics and Astronomy include?

Advanced Chemical Physic…136kAdvanced Chemical Physics Studies: 136k fractional worksPhysics of Superconducti…107kPhysics of Superconductivity and Magnetism: 107k fractional worksParticle physics theoretical and experimental studies: 107k fractional worksSpectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies: 97k fractional worksAstro and Planetary Science: 94k fractional worksQuantum Chromodynamics a…90kQuantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions: 90k fractional worksNuclear Physics and Applications: 89k fractional worksSemiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices: 87k fractional worksAdvanced Fiber Laser Tec…84kAdvanced Fiber Laser Technologies: 84k fractional worksStellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 81k fractional worksQuantum and electron transport phenomena: 77k fractional worksSolar and Space Plasma D…77kSolar and Space Plasma Dynamics: 77k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.