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Topic · Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Atomic and Molecular Physics

Atomic and Molecular Physics is a research topic within Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics. Science Explorer counts 69k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the interactions of low-energy electrons with matter and atoms, including the formation of DNA strand breaks, atomic structure, quantum electrodynamics, antihydrogen production, radiative recombination, positron-molecule interactions, soft X-ray laser spectroscopy, electron attachment, and hydrogen-like atoms.

  • Low-Energy Electrons
  • DNA Strand Breaks
  • Atomic Structure
  • Quantum Electrodynamics
  • Antihydrogen Production
  • Radiative Recombination
  • Positron-Molecule Interactions
  • Soft X-Ray Laser
  • Electron Attachment
  • Hydrogen-like Atoms
Research works
69k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
6.8k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-19%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
21% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Atomic and Molecular Physics

Which countries lead Atomic and Molecular Physics research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (521 and 508 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 521 works
  2. 2 China 508 works
  3. 3 Russia 279 works
  4. 4 Germany 261 works
  5. 5 India 259 works
  6. 6 France 190 works
  7. 7 Japan 172 works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 101 works
  9. 9 Italy 83 works
  10. 10 Poland 70 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.

United States: 21.3%China: 20.8%Russia: 11.4%Germany: 10.7%6 others listed: 35.8%21%largest
United States521 · 21.3%China508 · 20.8%Russia279 · 11.4%Germany261 · 10.7%6 others listed876 · 35.8%

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

Which institutions lead Atomic and Molecular Physics research?

By volume in 2022-now, Russian Academy of Sciences publishes the most Atomic and Molecular Physics research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 106 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 95 works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 87 works
  4. 4 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 70 works
  5. 5 Max Planck SocietyGermany 44 works
  6. 6 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 31 works
  7. 7 St Petersburg UniversityRussia 22 works
  8. 8 University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 21 works
  9. 9 Lawrence Livermore National LaboratoryUnited States 21 works
  10. 10 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 21 works

Who are the leading researchers in Atomic and Molecular Physics?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Atomic and Molecular Physics include M. Shoji, John P. Perdew and Georg Kresse.

  1. 1 M. Shoji Japan 806k citations
  2. 2 John P. Perdew United States 436k citations
  3. 3 Georg Kresse Austria 431k citations
  4. 4 Kieron Burke United States 276k citations
  5. 5 Jens K. Nørskov Denmark 260k citations
  6. 6 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  7. 7 Kenji Watanabe Japan 237k citations
  8. 8 Rodney S. Ruoff United States 231k citations
  9. 9 P. Jackson France 230k citations
  10. 10 Donald G. Truhlar United States 230k 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 Atomic and Molecular Physics?

The most cited paper in Atomic and Molecular Physics is "Development of the Colle-Salvetti correlation-energy formula into a functional of the electron density" (Chengteh Lee, Weitao Yang, Robert G. Parr, 1988), with 101,337 citations. Next come "Projector augmented-wave method" (93,392) and "The calculation of small molecular interactions by the differences of separate total energies. Some procedures with reduced errors" (22,220).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Development of the Colle-Salvetti correlation-energy formula into a functional of the electron density Chengteh Lee, Weitao Yang, Robert G. Parr · Physical review. B, Condensed matter 15 Jan 1988 101,337
2 Projector augmented-wave method Peter E. Blöchl · Physical review. B, Condensed matter 15 Dec 1994 93,392
3 The calculation of small molecular interactions by the differences of separate total energies. Some procedures with reduced errors Samuel Francis Boys, Fernando Bernardi · Molecular Physics Oct 1970 22,220
4 C60: Buckminsterfullerene Harold Walter Kroto, J. R. Heath, Sean C. O’Brien et al. · Nature Nov 1985 16,047
5 Ab initio effective core potentials for molecular calculations. Potentials for the transition metal atoms Sc to Hg P. Jeffrey Hay, Willard R. Wadt · The Journal of Chemical Physics 1985 13,837
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Atomic and Molecular Physics research done?

The largest centres of Atomic and Molecular Physics research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Moscow (Russia), Paris (France) and Saint Petersburg (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Dubna, Livermore and Darmstadt.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 124 works
  2. 2 MoscowRussia 119 works
  3. 3 ParisFrance 78 works
  4. 4 Saint PetersburgRussia 53 works
  5. 5 LanzhouChina 52 works
  6. 6 ShanghaiChina 48 works
  7. 7 DarmstadtGermany 44 works
  8. 8 TokyoJapan 39 works
  9. 9 HefeiChina 37 works
  10. 10 New DelhiIndia 33 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. DubnaRU · 25.8 works85×
  2. LivermoreUS · 23.3 works30×
  3. DarmstadtDE · 44.2 works28×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Atomic and Molecular Physics on the map

Where is the best place to study Atomic and Molecular Physics?

Among universities, judged by research, Peking University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and KU Leuven 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 19.71%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Peking UniversityKU LeuvenETH ZurichUniversity of Chines…
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
1Peking UniversityChina 73.234.0%3.4×20 -5.6%
2University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 57.316.8%4.4×20 +12.0%
3KU LeuvenBelgium 56.532.0%3.1×8 -4.3%
4ETH ZurichSwitzerland 56.228.2%5.3×10 -29.5%
5University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 54.00.5%6.0×30 +335.4%
6Michigan State UniversityUnited States 53.717.2%8.0×16 -32.0%
7University of Notre DameUnited States 50.315.1%11.5×10 +21.5%
8Curtin UniversityAustralia 50.015.4%14.8×13 -17.9%
9Johannes Gutenberg University MainzGermany 49.723.2%9.7×10 -30.5%
10Fudan UniversityChina 46.914.7%3.4×15 +71.5%

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 Atomic and Molecular Physics, country by country

Is Atomic and Molecular Physics research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 19% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2013.

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 Atomic and Molecular Physics as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.014% in 2024.

still counting0.20%0.40%Atomic and Molecular Physics0.011% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Atomic and Molecular Physics 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%Atomic and Molecular Physics9.8% 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.

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