Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Discussion
Topic · Statistical and Nonlinear Physics

Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics

Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics is a research topic within Statistical and Nonlinear Physics. Science Explorer counts 61k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on stochastic thermodynamics, fluctuation theorems, and their applications to nonequilibrium systems, quantum heat engines, information processing, maximum entropy production, and thermodynamic efficiency. It also covers experimental studies involving single-molecule experiments, feedback control, and nanoscale thermodynamics.

  • Stochastic Thermodynamics
  • Fluctuation Theorems
  • Nonequilibrium Systems
  • Quantum Heat Engines
  • Information Processing
  • Maximum Entropy Production
  • Thermodynamic Efficiency
  • Single-Molecule Experiments
  • Feedback Control
  • Nanoscale Thermodynamics
Research works
61k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
6.2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+2%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
26% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics

Which countries lead Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1.3k and 1.1k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.3k works
  2. 2 United States 1.1k works
  3. 3 Germany 464 works
  4. 4 India 442 works
  5. 5 France 400 works
  6. 6 Italy 368 works
  7. 7 United Kingdom 310 works
  8. 8 Japan 301 works
  9. 9 Russia 245 works
  10. 10 Brazil 199 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: 25.6%United States: 21.6%Germany: 9.0%India: 8.5%6 others listed: 35.3%26%largest
China1,324 · 25.6%United States1,114 · 21.6%Germany464 · 9.0%India442 · 8.5%6 others listed1,824 · 35.3%

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

Which institutions lead Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics research, followed by Russian Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 183 works
  2. 2 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 97 works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 94 works
  4. 4 The University of TokyoJapan 53 works
  5. 5 Max Planck SocietyGermany 42 works
  6. 6 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 37 works
  7. 7 Sapienza University of RomeItaly 36 works
  8. 8 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 35 works
  9. 9 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 34 works
  10. 10 Tsinghua UniversityChina 30 works

Who are the leading researchers in Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics include Zhong Lin Wang, Michaël Grätzel and John P. Perdew.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 Michaël Grätzel Switzerland 458k citations
  3. 3 John P. Perdew United States 436k citations
  4. 4 Andre K. Geim United Kingdom 315k citations
  5. 5 Karl John Friston United Kingdom 310k citations
  6. 6 Kieron Burke United States 276k citations
  7. 7 George M. Whitesides United States 267k citations
  8. 8 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  9. 9 Kenji Watanabe Japan 237k citations
  10. 10 Rodney S. Ruoff United States 231k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics?

The most cited paper in Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics is "Equation of State Calculations by Fast Computing Machines" (N. Metropolis, Arianna W. Rosenbluth, M. N. Rosenbluth et al., 1953), with 37,517 citations. Next come "Molecular dynamics with coupling to an external bath" (31,502) and "Canonical dynamics: Equilibrium phase-space distributions" (23,918).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Equation of State Calculations by Fast Computing Machines N. Metropolis, Arianna W. Rosenbluth, M. N. Rosenbluth et al. · The Journal of Chemical Physics Jun 1953 37,517
2 Molecular dynamics with coupling to an external bath Herman J. C. Berendsen, Johan P. M. Postma, Wilfred F. van Gunsteren et al. · The Journal of Chemical Physics Open access 15 Oct 1984 31,502
3 Canonical dynamics: Equilibrium phase-space distributions William Graham Hoover · Physical Review A Mar 1985 23,918
4 The Properties of Gases and Liquids Robert Cortas Reid, THOMAS K. SHERWOOD, Robert E. Street · Physics Today Apr 1959 14,172
5 Methods of Theoretical Physics Philip Μ. Morse, Herman Feshbach, Edward L. Hill · American Journal of Physics Sep 1954 13,258
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics research done?

The largest centres of Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Paris (France), Moscow (Russia) and Tokyo (Japan). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Trieste.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 285 works
  2. 2 ParisFrance 155 works
  3. 3 MoscowRussia 116 works
  4. 4 TokyoJapan 112 works
  5. 5 ShanghaiChina 93 works
  6. 6 LondonUnited Kingdom 92 works
  7. 7 WuhanChina 81 works
  8. 8 RomeItaly 70 works
  9. 9 Xi'anChina 65 works
  10. 10 Mexico CityMexico 59 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. TriesteIT · 27.2 works9.5×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics than the world average.

See Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics on the map

Where is the best place to study Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics?

Among universities, judged by research, Wuhan Institute of Technology, The University of Tokyo and University of Geneva 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 31.05%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Wuhan Institute of T…University of GenevaXi'an Jiaotong Unive…The University of To…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Wuhan Institute of TechnologyChina 68.445.0%11.2×16 +73.8%
2The University of TokyoJapan 61.09.2%6.6×53 +48.5%
3University of GenevaSwitzerland 61.036.0%4.2×11 +19.2%
4Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 60.426.2%3.3×36 -10.3%
5Northeast Electric Power UniversityChina 60.243.7%9.5×8 +194.6%
6North China Electric Power UniversityChina 57.733.3%5.6×24 -3.6%
7University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 56.115.3%3.3×35 +69.2%
8Heinrich Heine University DüsseldorfGermany 55.234.3%4.3×10 +41.8%
9University of LuxembourgLuxembourg 53.722.8%10.6×16 -17.4%
10University of TehranIran 52.844.7%2.6×10 -45.5%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics, country by country

Is Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 2% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics.

still counting19801990200020102020
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 Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.032% in 2024.

still counting0.10%0.20%Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics0.028% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics 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.

still counting5%10%15%Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics10.5% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

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.

Discussion

Ask a question or share a note about Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics. Posts are plain text and can be reported.