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Subfield · Physics and Astronomy

Condensed Matter Physics research

Condensed Matter Physics is a subfield of Physics and Astronomy. Science Explorer counts 364k research works in it since 1950. 17.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: branch of physics dealing with a property of matter.

Research works
364k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
63k
per year above
Top-10% rate
17.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
8
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
-2%
the tick is no change

What is Condensed Matter Physics research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Superconductivity, Cuprate Superconductors, High-Temperature Superconductivity, III-Nitrides, Semiconductors, Frustrated Magnets. Gaining share since 2009–13: Hydrodynamics, Micro/Nanomotors, Frustrated Magnets, Quantum Spin Liquids. Losing share: Heavy Fermion, Quantum Criticality, Critical Phenomena, Phase Transitions.

▲ 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 17 words, with their numbers
  1. Superconductivity13k◆ 0.97×3 topics
  2. Cuprate Superconductors10k◆ 0.92×1 topic
  3. High-Temperature Superconductivity10k◆ 0.92×1 topic
  4. III-Nitrides8,008◆ 0.92×1 topic
  5. Semiconductors8,008◆ 0.92×1 topic
  6. Frustrated Magnets7,905▲ 1.21×1 topic
  7. Quantum Spin Liquids7,905▲ 1.21×1 topic
  8. Critical Phenomena5,909▼ 0.84×1 topic
  9. Phase Transitions5,909▼ 0.84×1 topic
  10. Hydrodynamics5,759▲ 2.4×1 topic
  11. Micro/Nanomotors5,759▲ 2.4×1 topic
  12. Heavy Fermion3,452▼ 0.68×1 topic
  13. Quantum Criticality3,452▼ 0.68×1 topic
  14. Magnesium Diboride1,906◆ 0.91×1 topic
  15. Multiple Gaps1,906◆ 0.91×1 topic
  16. Channeling986◆ 0.89×1 topic
  17. Nuclear Resonant Spectroscopy986◆ 0.89×1 topic

Which countries lead Condensed Matter Physics research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and Germany rank highest in Condensed Matter Physics. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (8.6k and 5.2k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #4 all time 17.5% top 10% · 8.6k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 19.8% top 10% · 5.2k works
  3. 3 Germany · #3 all time 18.3% top 10% · 2k works
  4. 4 Japan · #2 all time 11.0% top 10% · 2.8k works
  5. 5 France · #5 all time 15.2% top 10% · 1.5k works
  6. 6 United Kingdom · #6 all time 17.6% top 10% · 1k works
  7. 7 Switzerland · #7 all time 24.7% top 10% · 437 works
  8. 8 India · #14 all time 9.8% top 10% · 2.1k works
  9. 9 Italy · #10 all time 17.5% top 10% · 791 works
  10. 10 South Korea · #13 all time 14.0% top 10% · 788 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 24 countries ranked in Condensed Matter Physics. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Condensed Matter Physics

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 8.6k works
  2. 2 United States 5.2k works
  3. 3 Japan 2.8k works
  4. 4 India 2.1k works
  5. 5 Germany 2k works
  6. 6 Russia 1.6k works
  7. 7 France 1.5k works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 1k works
  9. 9 Italy 791 works
  10. 10 South Korea 788 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: 32.6%United States: 19.8%Japan: 10.5%India: 8.0%6 others listed: 29.1%33%largest
China8,639 · 32.6%United States5,241 · 19.8%Japan2,783 · 10.5%India2,107 · 8.0%6 others listed7,722 · 29.1%

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

Which institutions lead Condensed Matter Physics research?

Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) ranks first in Condensed Matter Physics on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #27 all time 18.6% top 10% · 400 works
  2. 2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing 21.0% top 10% · 229 works
  3. 3 Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States · Cambridge · #2 all time 35.9% top 10% · 114 works
  4. 4 ETH Zurich Switzerland · Zurich · #16 all time 32.4% top 10% · 95 works
  5. 5 University of Science and Technology of China China · Hefei · #68 all time 19.0% top 10% · 205 works
  6. 6 The University of Tokyo Japan · Tokyo · #1 all time 17.1% top 10% · 255 works
  7. 7 Peking University China · Beijing · #72 all time 24.3% top 10% · 143 works
  8. 8 Tsinghua University China · Beijing · #74 all time 23.5% top 10% · 152 works
  9. 9 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France · Paris · #10 all time 16.8% top 10% · 228 works
  10. 10 Harbin Institute of Technology China · Harbin · #99 all time 26.2% top 10% · 120 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 69 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Condensed Matter Physics.

Top 100 Condensed Matter Physics institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 400 works
  2. 2 The University of TokyoJapan 255 works
  3. 3 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 229 works
  4. 4 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 227 works
  5. 5 University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 205 works
  6. 6 Tohoku UniversityJapan 201 works
  7. 7 Xidian UniversityChina 161 works
  8. 8 Tsinghua UniversityChina 152 works
  9. 9 Peking UniversityChina 143 works
  10. 10 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 138 works

Who are the leading researchers in Condensed Matter Physics?

Among the most productive authors in Condensed Matter Physics, David Vanderbilt, Philip W. Anderson and Benoît B. Mandelbrot rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 David Vanderbilt United States · #102 worldwide 7.3k citations · 143 works
  2. 2 Philip W. Anderson United States · #141 worldwide 5.8k citations · 126 works
  3. 3 Benoît B. Mandelbrot United States · #426 worldwide 4.2k citations · 109 works
  4. 4 L. J. Sham United States · #756 worldwide 13k citations · 92 works
  5. 5 Y. Makida Japan · #885 worldwide 8.1k citations · 349 works
  6. 6 Jean‐Marie Tarascon France · #1,069 worldwide 4.9k citations · 166 works
  7. 7 Fujio Izumi Japan · #1,117 worldwide 5.8k citations · 88 works
  8. 8 N. F. Mott United Kingdom · #1,498 worldwide 3.4k citations · 88 works
  9. 9 Matthew P. A. Fisher United States · #1,531 worldwide 3.2k citations · 91 works
  10. 10 David J. Singh United States · #1,553 worldwide 5.1k citations · 208 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,838 highest-output authors in Condensed Matter Physics. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Condensed Matter Physics researchers

Where is Condensed Matter Physics research done?

The largest centres of Condensed Matter Physics research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan), Shanghai (China) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Sayō, Bariloche and Villigen.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 2.1k works
  2. 2 Tokyo Japan 758 works
  3. 3 Shanghai China 619 works
  4. 4 Moscow Russia 605 works
  5. 5 Nanjing China 562 works
  6. 6 Paris France 526 works
  7. 7 Hefei China 462 works
  8. 8 Xi'an China 453 works
  9. 9 Guangzhou China 363 works
  10. 10 Seoul South Korea 316 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. SayōJP · 40.1 works31×
  2. BarilocheAR · 20.5 works27×
  3. VilligenCH · 77.1 works27×
  4. WakoJP · 85.7 works24×
  5. DidcotGB · 61.5 works22×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Condensed Matter Physics on the map

Condensed Matter Physics research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Condensed Matter Physics?

Among universities, judged by research, Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology, Southern University of Science and Technology and Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati 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 25.68%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology: 31, 35.6%Southern University of Science and Technology: 112, 21.5%Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati: 34, 27.2%University of California, Santa Barbara: 99, 28.2%University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: 229, 21.0%Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 114, 35.9%Hefei University: 36, 26.7%Weizmann Institute of Science: 40, 29.2%Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal: 28, 12.3%Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology: 20, 19.2%Munich Center for Qu…University of Califo…Scuola Internazional…Southern University …
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
1 Munich Center for Quantum Science and TechnologyGermany 63.835.6%67.1×31 —
2 Southern University of Science and TechnologyChina 59.321.5%6.3×112 +586.9%
3 Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi AvanzatiItaly 58.027.2%24.3×34 +52.8%
4 University of California, Santa BarbaraUnited States 57.628.2%9.5×99 -9.5%
5 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 56.321.0%4.2×229 +214.9%
6 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States 54.335.9%5.7×114 -9.4%
7 Hefei UniversityChina 53.926.7%10.9×36 —
8 Weizmann Institute of ScienceIsrael 52.129.2%8.5×40 -3.4%
9 Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, BhopalIndia 51.612.3%10.8×28 +428.3%
10 Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and TechnologySouth Korea 50.819.2%8.5×20 +275.0%

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 Condensed Matter Physics research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 2% lower than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2006. The fastest-growing topics are Micro and Nano Robotics, Advanced Condensed Matter Physics and GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials.

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. Micro and Nano Robotics+177%
  2. Advanced Condensed Matter Physics+10%
  3. GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials+8%
  4. Superconductivity in MgB2 and Alloys-9%
  5. Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism-16%
  6. Theoretical and Computational Physics-18%
  7. Rare-earth and actinide compounds-25%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Condensed Matter Physics include?

Physics of Superconducti…107kPhysics of Superconductivity and Magnetism: 107k fractional worksTheoretical and Computational Physics: 69k fractional worksAdvanced Condensed Matter Physics: 51k fractional worksGaN-based semiconductor …49kGaN-based semiconductor devices and materials: 49k fractional worksRare-earth and actinide …41kRare-earth and actinide compounds: 41k fractional worksMicro and Nano Robotics: 19k fractional worksSuperconductivity in MgB2 and Alloys: 15k fractional worksCrystallography and Radiation Phenomena: 14k fractional works

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