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Research facility · Los Alamos · United States

Los Alamos National Laboratory

In research, Los Alamos National Laboratory stands highest in Physical Sciences (#171 of 12,888 worldwide), Physics and Astronomy (#57 of 1,646 worldwide) and Radiation (#3 of 42 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Radiation, Nuclear and High Energy Physics and Condensed Matter Physics — Radiation is 29.3× its share of world research.

lanl.govROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#341
of 28,054 · #49 all time
Rank in United States
#70
of 4,192
Research works
58k
▼ 8% vs 2013–17
Citations
2.1M
35.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
14.7%
record average 16.5%
Open access
37%
world 28%

What is Los Alamos National Laboratory known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Physical SciencesDomain #171 of 12,888 14.8%4,321 #27
Physics and AstronomyField #57 of 1,646 20.4%1,164 #15
RadiationSubfield #3 of 42 15.1%194 #2
Computer ScienceField #385 of 4,667 17.6%360 #138
EngineeringField #619 of 6,636 11.2%1,390 #83
Materials ScienceField #333 of 2,468 10.8%550 #46
Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield #37 of 263 28.6%332 #13
Artificial IntelligenceSubfield #300 of 1,884 24.3%169 #131
Materials ChemistrySubfield #255 of 1,556 11.3%431 #34
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield #97 of 565 18.1%252 #16

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Los Alamos 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 world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Physical Sciences#27 #171
  2. Physics and Astronomy#15 #57
  3. Radiation#2 #3
  4. Computer Science#138 #385
  5. Engineering#83 #619
  6. Materials Science#46 #333
  7. Nuclear and High Energy Physics#13 #37
  8. Artificial Intelligence#131 #300
  9. Materials Chemistry#34 #255
  10. Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics#16 #97
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

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

What does Los Alamos National Laboratory specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Radiation takes 29.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. RadiationSubfield · 194.0 works29×
  2. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 331.8 works22×
  3. Condensed Matter PhysicsSubfield · 105.9 works14×
  4. Physics and AstronomyField · 1,163.8 works11×
  5. GeophysicsSubfield · 154.6 works9.2×
  6. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 208.6 works8.3×
  7. Atomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsSubfield · 252.2 works7.3×
← 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, 32 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.50× its world share, 128 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.44× its world share, 21 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.18× its world share, 14 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.13× its world share, 2 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.84× its world share, 31 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 2.14× its world share, 162 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.96× its world share, 360 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 4.04× its world share, 305 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.14× its world share, 50 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.92× its world share, 1,390 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.98× its world share, 235 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 3.27× its world share, 550 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.30× its world share, 74 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 10.86× its world share, 1,164 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.22× its world share, 28 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.15× its world share, 135 worksMedicineNursing: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.10× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.10× its world share, 14 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.06× its world share, 9 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.36× its world share, 63 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.09× its world share, 9 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.04× its world share, 6 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.06× its world share, 35 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 10.9×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory?

Ranked on the composite score, Alan S. Perelson, Wojciech H. Zurek and Charles R. Farrar lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Los Alamos National Laboratory.

  1. 1 Alan S. Perelson · #1,080 worldwide 2k citations · 102 works
  2. 2 Wojciech H. Zurek · #3,051 worldwide 2k citations · 79 works
  3. 3 Charles R. Farrar · #4,119 worldwide 1.8k citations · 106 works
  4. 4 S. J. Bame · #6,239 worldwide 1k citations · 102 works
  5. 5 R. G. Van de Water · #10,021 worldwide 1.4k citations · 57 works
  6. 6 R. C. Albers · #10,845 worldwide 1.2k citations · 52 works
  7. 7 A. N. Cox · #11,082 worldwide 679 citations · 76 works
  8. 8 Gyuhae Park · #11,507 worldwide 760 citations · 81 works
  9. 9 F. M. Mueller · #12,199 worldwide 1.2k citations · 47 works
  10. 10 J. Carlson · #12,446 worldwide 948 citations · 68 works
All ranked researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Which keywords describe research at Los Alamos National Laboratory?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Tomography, Data Analysis, Superconductivity, Small-Angle Scattering, Radiography, Neutron Activation Analysis, Neutron Imaging and Density Functional Theory.

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

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 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. Tomography219▲ 25×5 topics
  2. Machine Learning208▲ 1.32×60 topics
  3. Climate Change156▲ 1.20×66 topics
  4. Data Analysis144▲ 11×9 topics
  5. Superconductivity137▲ 17×9 topics
  6. Small-Angle Scattering131▲ 50×2 topics
  7. Radiography131▲ 73×2 topics
  8. Neutron Activation Analysis127▲ 74×1 topic
  9. Neutron Imaging127▲ 74×1 topic
  10. Remote Sensing116▲ 1.96×30 topics
  11. Density Functional Theory110▲ 22×5 topics
  12. Molten Salt100▲ 65×1 topic
  13. Nuclear Reactor100▲ 65×1 topic
  14. Oxidation Resistance92▲ 18×3 topics
  15. Hydrogen Embrittlement89▲ 22×3 topics
  16. High Temperature Behavior87▲ 30×2 topics
  17. Molecular Dynamics Simulations83▲ 40×2 topics
  18. Accident Tolerant Fuels82▲ 46×1 topic
  19. Fuel Cladding82▲ 46×1 topic
  20. Solar Wind79▲ 18×2 topics
  21. Crystal Growth75▲ 5.5×11 topics
  22. Entanglement73▲ 10×4 topics
  23. Thermal Decomposition71▲ 33×2 topics
  24. Quantum Information69▲ 12×3 topics
  25. Dark Matter67▲ 12×4 topics
  26. Electron Acceleration66▲ 20×2 topics
  27. Molecular Dynamics64▲ 8.1×7 topics
  28. Particle Physics64▲ 18×2 topics
  29. Plate Tectonics58▲ 7.9×3 topics
  30. Nucleosynthesis58▲ 25×3 topics
  31. Actinides58▲ 23×2 topics
  32. Electron Beams57▲ 68×1 topic
  33. Laser-Plasma Accelerators57▲ 68×1 topic
  34. Metal Nanoparticles56▲ 6.8×6 topics
  35. Lattice QCD55▲ 19×2 topics
  36. Quantum Simulation54▲ 14×2 topics
  37. Turbulence53▲ 13×4 topics
  38. Extraction52▲ 8.2×4 topics
  39. Energetic Salts52▲ 44×1 topic
  40. ReaxFF52▲ 44×1 topic

Which research topics does Los Alamos National Laboratory publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Nuclear Physics and Applications, Nuclear reactor physics and engineering, Nuclear Materials and Properties and Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics.

Nuclear Physics and Applications: 127 fractional worksNuclear reactor physics and engineering: 100 fractional worksNuclear Materials and Pr…82Nuclear Materials and Properties: 82 fractional worksLaser-Plasma Interaction…57Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics: 57 fractional worksEnergetic Materials and Combustion: 52 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 51 fractional worksHigh-pressure geophysics…50High-pressure geophysics and materials: 50 fractional worksParticle physics theoretical and experimental studies: 47 fractional worksRadioactive element chemistry and processing: 44 fractional worksRadiation Detection and Scintillator Technologies: 43 fractional works
RadiationAerospace EngineeringMaterials ChemistryNuclear and High Energy Physics4 others

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

  1. 1 Nuclear Physics and ApplicationsRadiation 127 works
  2. 2 Nuclear reactor physics and engineeringAerospace Engineering 100 works
  3. 3 Nuclear Materials and PropertiesMaterials Chemistry 82 works
  4. 4 Laser-Plasma Interactions and DiagnosticsNuclear and High Energy Physics 57 works
  5. 5 Energetic Materials and CombustionMechanics of Materials 52 works
  6. 6 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamicsAstronomy and Astrophysics 51 works
  7. 7 High-pressure geophysics and materialsGeophysics 50 works
  8. 8 Particle physics theoretical and experimental studiesNuclear and High Energy Physics 47 works
  9. 9 Radioactive element chemistry and processingInorganic Chemistry 44 works
  10. 10 Radiation Detection and Scintillator TechnologiesRadiation 43 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 available36.7%not open63.3%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors13.3%domestic only86.7%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Los Alamos National Laboratory's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 8% lower than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Other research institutions in Los Alamos

All research institutions in Los Alamos

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.