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Research facility · Livermore · United States

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

In research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory stands highest in Physical Sciences (#442 of 10,670 worldwide), Earth and Planetary Sciences (#59 of 1,088 worldwide) and Engineering (#456 of 5,901 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Radiation, Nuclear and High Energy Physics and Environmental Chemistry (Radiation is 22.9× its share of world research).

llnl.govROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#858
of 22,385 · #627 all time
Rank in United States
#195
of 3,332
Research works
38k
▲ 16% vs 2018-21
Citations
1.3M
33.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
9.6%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.94×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
39%
world 40%
International
10%
world 18%
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

What is Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022-now, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Physical SciencesDomain #442 of 10,670 9.4%2,976 #300
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #59 of 1,088 7.4%366 #38
EngineeringField #456 of 5,901 8.5%897 #303
Physics and AstronomyField #215 of 1,417 10.4%684 #218
Materials ScienceField #353 of 2,276 8.3%305 #322
Computer ScienceField #696 of 4,417 8.7%275 #539
Materials ChemistrySubfield #294 of 1,473 8.2%229 #231
Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield #53 of 254 13.8%215 #68
Electrical and Electronic EngineeringSubfield #491 of 2,176 7.2%190 #316
Life SciencesDomain #1,554 of 6,403 10.6%115 #1780

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022-now. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Physical Sciences#300 #442
  2. Earth and Planetary Sciences#38 #59
  3. Engineering#303 #456
  4. Physics and Astronomy#218 #215
  5. Materials Science#322 #353
  6. Computer Science#539 #696
  7. Materials Chemistry#231 #294
  8. Nuclear and High Energy Physics#68 #53
  9. Electrical and Electronic Engineering#316 #491
  10. Life Sciences#1,780 #1,554
all time2022-now, better2022-now, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

Which fields of science does Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory work in?

In 2022-now, 91% of research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is in Physical Sciences, 4% in Life Sciences. Its largest fields are Engineering (28%), Physics and Astronomy (21%), Earth and Planetary Sciences (11%). It does 2.3× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 3,211 fractional works · 91.5% of its workEngineering: 966 fractional works · 27.5% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 202 fractional works · 5.8% of its workMechanical Engineering: 137 fractional works · 3.9% of its workMechanics of Materials: 131 fractional works · 3.7% of its workComputational Mechanics: 121 fractional works · 3.5% of its workAerospace Engineering: 112 fractional works · 3.2% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 104 fractional works · 3.0% of its workAutomotive Engineering: 37 fractional works · 1.1% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 30 fractional works · 0.9% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 28 fractional works · 0.8% of its workOcean Engineering: 26 fractional works · 0.7% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 14 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality: 12 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 10 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 732 fractional works · 20.9% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 236 fractional works · 6.7% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 198 fractional works · 5.6% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 124 fractional works · 3.5% of its workRadiation: 110 fractional works · 3.1% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 32 fractional works · 0.9% of its workCondensed Matter Physics: 18 fractional works · 0.5% of its workInstrumentation: 12 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 388 fractional works · 11.0% of its workOceanography: 153 fractional works · 4.4% of its workGeophysics: 138 fractional works · 3.9% of its workAtmospheric Science: 72 fractional works · 2.1% of its workGeochemistry and Petrology: 14 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 10 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMaterials Science: 336 fractional works · 9.6% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 254 fractional works · 7.2% of its workElectronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials: 29 fractional works · 0.8% of its workPolymers and Plastics: 18 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSurfaces, Coatings and Films: 12 fractional works · 0.4% of its workCeramics and Composites: 11 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 13 fractional works · 0.4% of its workComputer Science: 299 fractional works · 8.5% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 96 fractional works · 2.7% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 62 fractional works · 1.8% of its workComputational Theory and Mathematics: 35 fractional works · 1.0% of its workHardware and Architecture: 34 fractional works · 1.0% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 32 fractional works · 0.9% of its workInformation Systems: 20 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSignal Processing: 9 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 12 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnvironmental Science: 294 fractional works · 8.4% of its workEnvironmental Chemistry: 138 fractional works · 3.9% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 74 fractional works · 2.1% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 26 fractional works · 0.7% of its workEcology: 24 fractional works · 0.7% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 11 fractional works · 0.3% of its workWater Science and Technology: 9 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 11 fractional works · 0.3% of its workChemistry: 96 fractional works · 2.7% of its workInorganic Chemistry: 36 fractional works · 1.0% of its workSpectroscopy: 21 fractional works · 0.6% of its workOrganic Chemistry: 21 fractional works · 0.6% of its workPhysical and Theoretical Chemistry: 9 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 8 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEnergy: 39 fractional works · 1.1% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 37 fractional works · 1.0% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemical Engineering: 36 fractional works · 1.0% of its workCatalysis: 17 fractional works · 0.5% of its workFluid Flow and Transfer Processes: 11 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 7 fractional works · 0.2% of its workMathematics: 26 fractional works · 0.7% of its workApplied Mathematics: 11 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 16 fractional works · 0.4% of its workLife Sciences: 135 fractional works · 3.8% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 83 fractional works · 2.4% of its workMolecular Biology: 55 fractional works · 1.6% of its workBiophysics: 7 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 21 fractional works · 0.6% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 23 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSoil Science: 8 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPlant Science: 8 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 7 fractional works · 0.2% of its workNeuroscience: 14 fractional works · 0.4% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 11 fractional works · 0.3% of its workImmunology: 7 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 3 fractional works · 0.1% of its workHealth Sciences: 95 fractional works · 2.7% of its workMedicine: 85 fractional works · 2.4% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 28 fractional works · 0.8% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 10 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 47 fractional works · 1.3% of its workHealth Professions: 8 fractional works · 0.2% of its workNursing: 1 fractional works · 0.0% of its workSocial Sciences: 70 fractional works · 2.0% of its workDecision Sciences: 36 fractional works · 1.0% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 14 fractional works · 0.4% of its workStatistics, Probability and Uncertainty: 12 fractional works · 0.3% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 9 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSocial Sciences: 18 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 8 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 10 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 6 fractional works · 0.2% of its workArts and Humanities: 5 fractional works · 0.1% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 4 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPsychology: 2 fractional works · 0.0% of its workALL ITS WORKLawrenceLivermore…3,511fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences4%Physical Sciences91%Health Sciences3%Social Sciences2%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 26 fields, with their numbers
    1. Engineering96627.5%
    2. Physics and Astronomy73220.9%
    3. Earth and Planetary Sciences38811.0%
    4. Materials Science3369.6%
    5. Computer Science2998.5%
    6. Environmental Science2948.4%
    7. Chemistry962.7%
    8. Energy391.1%
    9. Chemical Engineering361.0%
    10. Mathematics260.7%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology832.4%
    2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences230.7%
    3. Neuroscience140.4%
    4. Immunology and Microbiology110.3%
    5. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics30.1%
    1. Medicine852.4%
    2. Health Professions80.2%
    3. Nursing10.0%
    4. Dentistry10.0%
    5. Veterinary00.0%
    1. Decision Sciences361.0%
    2. Social Sciences180.5%
    3. Economics, Econometrics and Finance60.2%
    4. Arts and Humanities50.1%
    5. Business, Management and Accounting40.1%
    6. Psychology20.0%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Radiation takes 22.9× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. RadiationSubfield · 110.3 works23×
  2. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 236.1 works21×
  3. Environmental ChemistrySubfield · 138.1 works18×
  4. OceanographySubfield · 153.4 works16×
  5. GeophysicsSubfield · 138.5 works11×
  6. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 198.1 works11×
  7. Physics and AstronomyField · 732.1 works9.4×
  8. Hardware and ArchitectureSubfield · 33.7 works8.5×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.14× its world share, 23 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.45× its world share, 83 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.32× its world share, 11 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.24× its world share, 14 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.23× its world share, 3 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 2.90× its world share, 36 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.74× its world share, 96 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.09× its world share, 299 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 7.04× its world share, 388 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.20× its world share, 39 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.83× its world share, 966 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.69× its world share, 294 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 2.74× its world share, 336 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.63× its world share, 26 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 9.38× its world share, 732 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.08× its world share, 8 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.13× its world share, 85 worksMedicineNursing: 0.08× its world share, 1 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.05× its world share, 5 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.04× its world share, 4 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.06× its world share, 36 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.08× its world share, 6 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.01× its world share, 2 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.04× its world share, 18 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 9.4×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 26 fields, with their numbers
  1. Physics and Astronomy9.38×732 works
  2. Earth and Planetary Sciences7.04×388 works
  3. Chemical Engineering2.90×36 works
  4. Materials Science2.74×336 works
  5. Engineering1.83×966 works
  6. Chemistry1.74×96 works
  7. Environmental Science1.69×294 works
  8. Energy1.20×39 works
  9. Computer Science1.09×299 works
  10. Decision Sciences1.06×36 works
  11. Mathematics0.63×26 works
  12. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.45×83 works
  13. Immunology and Microbiology0.32×11 works
  14. Neuroscience0.24×14 works
  15. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.23×3 works
  16. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.14×23 works
  17. Medicine0.13×85 works
  18. Health Professions0.08×8 works
  19. Nursing0.08×1 works
  20. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.08×6 works
  21. Veterinary0.06×0 works
  22. Arts and Humanities0.05×5 works
  23. Business, Management and Accounting0.04×4 works
  24. Social Sciences0.04×18 works
  25. Dentistry0.03×0 works
  26. Psychology0.01×2 works

Who are the top researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory?

Ranked on the quality score, Jennifer Pett‐Ridge, Steven J. Blazewicz and Noah W. Sokol lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

  1. 1 Jennifer Pett‐Ridge United States · #37 worldwide 19k citations · 13,390 works
  2. 2 Steven J. Blazewicz United States · #1,817 worldwide 7.6k citations · 6,895 works
  3. 3 Noah W. Sokol United States · #5,552 worldwide 6.8k citations · 6,827 works
  4. 4 Erin Nuccio United States · #8,793 worldwide 6k citations · 2,739 works
  5. 5 Ron Ariel Soltz United States · #20,573 worldwide 54k citations · 607 works
  6. 6 Fang Qian United States · #22,933 worldwide 23k citations · 149 works
  7. 7 Karl E. Taylor United States · #24,522 worldwide 63k citations · 257 works
  8. 8 Katerina Georgiou United States · #26,747 worldwide 6.1k citations · 131 works
  9. 9 Eric W. Slessarev United States · #33,771 worldwide 2.8k citations · 3,028 works
  10. 10 Jean‐Christophe Golaz United States · #34,643 worldwide 15k citations · 207 works
All ranked researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

What are the most cited papers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory?

The most cited paper from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is "Canonical dynamics: Equilibrium phase-space distributions" (William Graham Hoover, 1985), with 23,918 citations. Next come "Numerical solution of initial boundary value problems involving maxwell's equations in isotropic media" (14,949) and "An Overview of CMIP5 and the Experiment Design" (14,860).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Canonical dynamics: Equilibrium phase-space distributions William Graham Hoover · Physical Review A Mar 1985 23,918
2 Numerical solution of initial boundary value problems involving maxwell's equations in isotropic media Kane S. Yee · IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation May 1966 14,949
3 An Overview of CMIP5 and the Experiment Design Karl E. Taylor, Ronald J. Stouffer, Gerald A. Meehl · Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Open access 7 Oct 2011 14,860
4 Ground State of the Electron Gas by a Stochastic Method David M. Ceperley, B. J. Alder · Physical Review Letters 18 Aug 1980 14,393
5 Overview of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) experimental design and organization Veronika Eyring, Sandrine Bony, Gerald A. Meehl et al. · Geoscientific model development Open access 26 May 2016 12,432
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Tomography, Geodetic Measurements, Sea Level Rise, Hydrological Modeling, Microbial Communities, GRACE, groundwater depletion and Solar Wind.

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's

Size is fractional works in 2022-now in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Climate Change236▲ 2.5×55 topics
  2. Tomography175▲ 28×5 topics
  3. Geodetic Measurements157▲ 42×2 topics
  4. Sea Level Rise152▲ 34×3 topics
  5. Hydrological Modeling151▲ 18×5 topics
  6. Microbial Communities145▲ 9.5×9 topics
  7. GRACE143▲ 85×1 topic
  8. groundwater depletion143▲ 85×1 topic
  9. Solar Wind142▲ 44×2 topics
  10. Machine Learning137▲ 1.18×65 topics
  11. Electron Acceleration134▲ 57×2 topics
  12. Methane Oxidation133▲ 48×2 topics
  13. Anaerobic133▲ 59×1 topic
  14. Gas Hydrates133▲ 59×1 topic
  15. Ionosphere127▲ 66×1 topic
  16. Magnetosphere127▲ 66×1 topic
  17. Electron Beams112▲ 184×1 topic
  18. Laser-Plasma Accelerators112▲ 184×1 topic
  19. Remote Sensing92▲ 2.1×24 topics
  20. Mechanical Properties84▲ 2.5×31 topics
  21. Superconductivity78▲ 13×9 topics
  22. Spectroscopy77▲ 13×11 topics
  23. Data Analysis74▲ 8.1×9 topics
  24. Molecular Dynamics72▲ 12×7 topics
  25. Plate Tectonics70▲ 13×3 topics
  26. Additive Manufacturing67▲ 6.2×8 topics
  27. Small-Angle Scattering66▲ 37×2 topics
  28. Neutron Activation Analysis64▲ 56×1 topic
  29. Neutron Imaging64▲ 56×1 topic
  30. Crystal Structure Prediction61▲ 37×1 topic
  31. Mantle Dynamics61▲ 37×1 topic
  32. Space Exploration58▲ 38×2 topics
  33. Crystal Growth57▲ 5.9×11 topics
  34. Molecular Dynamics Simulations56▲ 37×2 topics
  35. Instrumentation55▲ 81×1 topic
  36. Material Analysis55▲ 81×1 topic
  37. Plasma55▲ 78×2 topics
  38. Turbulence52▲ 16×4 topics
  39. High-Performance Computing52▲ 18×2 topics
  40. Parallel Computing46▲ 11×5 topics

Which research topics does Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Geophysics and Gravity Measurements, Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena, Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics and Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics.

Geophysics and Gravity Measurements: 143 fractional worksMethane Hydrates and Related Phenomena: 133 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosp…127Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 127 fractional worksLaser-Plasma Interaction…112Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics: 112 fractional worksNuclear Physics and Applications: 64 fractional worksHigh-pressure geophysics and materials: 61 fractional worksLaser-induced spectrosco…55Laser-induced spectroscopy and plasma: 55 fractional worksMagnetic confinement fusion research: 43 fractional worksSeismic Waves and Analysis: 37 fractional worksNuclear reactor physics and engineering: 33 fractional works
OceanographyEnvironmental ChemistryAstronomy and AstrophysicsNuclear and High Energy Physics4 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Geophysics and Gravity Measurements Oceanography 143 works
  2. 2 Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena Environmental Chemistry 133 works
  3. 3 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 127 works
  4. 4 Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics Nuclear and High Energy Physics 112 works
  5. 5 Nuclear Physics and Applications Radiation 64 works
  6. 6 High-pressure geophysics and materials Geophysics 61 works
  7. 7 Laser-induced spectroscopy and plasma Mechanics of Materials 55 works
  8. 8 Magnetic confinement fusion research Nuclear and High Energy Physics 43 works
  9. 9 Seismic Waves and Analysis Geophysics 37 works
  10. 10 Nuclear reactor physics and engineering Aerospace Engineering 33 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world's own shares: the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available38.9%not open61.1%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors10.5%domestic only89.5%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 16% higher than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.020% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%0.15%Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory0.010% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.

still counting10%20%all institutions10.0% in 2025Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory9.4% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 17.6% in 2015.

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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on Science Explorer

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Its overall standing, then the domains, fields and subfields where Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is in the world's top ten or its top 1%. Each has an image of its own.

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