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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. 21.4% 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%
15k
per year above
Top-10% rate
21.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
-31%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Atomic and Molecular Physics research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (468 and 458 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 468 works
  2. 2 China 458 works
  3. 3 Russia 263 works
  4. 4 Germany 236 works
  5. 5 India 236 works
  6. 6 France 178 works
  7. 7 Japan 158 works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 85 works
  9. 9 Italy 77 works
  10. 10 Poland 62 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: 21.1%China: 20.6%Russia: 11.9%Germany: 10.6%6 others listed: 35.8%21%largest
United States468 · 21.1%China458 · 20.6%Russia263 · 11.9%Germany236 · 10.6%6 others listed795 · 35.8%

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

Which institutions lead Atomic and Molecular Physics research?

By volume in 2022–2025, GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research publishes the most Atomic and Molecular Physics research, followed by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion ResearchGermany 30 works
  2. 2 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 30 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 28 works
  4. 4 Institute of Modern PhysicsChina 26 works
  5. 5 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 24 works
  6. 6 Max Planck Institute for Nuclear PhysicsGermany 21 works
  7. 7 St Petersburg UniversityRussia 20 works
  8. 8 Joint Institute for Nuclear ResearchRussia 20 works
  9. 9 Lawrence Livermore National LaboratoryUnited States 20 works
  10. 10 University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 20 works

Who are the leading researchers in Atomic and Molecular Physics?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Atomic and Molecular Physics include Donald G. Truhlar and C. Leroy.

  1. 1 Donald G. Truhlar United States 8.4k citations
  2. 2 C. Leroy Israel 7.3k citations

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

Where is Atomic and Molecular Physics research done?

The largest centres of Atomic and Molecular Physics research in 2022–2025 are Moscow (Russia), Beijing (China), 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, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Moscow Russia 112 works
  2. 2 Beijing China 112 works
  3. 3 Paris France 74 works
  4. 4 Saint Petersburg Russia 50 works
  5. 5 Lanzhou China 46 works
  6. 6 Shanghai China 43 works
  7. 7 Darmstadt Germany 40 works
  8. 8 Tokyo Japan 37 works
  9. 9 Hefei China 34 works
  10. 10 New Delhi India 30 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. DubnaRU · 25.2 works88×
  2. LivermoreUS · 21.9 works29×
  3. DarmstadtDE · 39.7 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, Université Paris-Saclay, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee and University of Baghdad 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 24.45%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Université Paris-Saclay: 12, 19.3%Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee: 13, 23.6%University of Baghdad: 18, 10.1%Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz: 10, 26.4%Technische Universität Darmstadt: 8, 38.4%Michigan State University: 12, 41.4%St Petersburg University: 20, 8.9%University of Notre Dame: 9, 29.0%University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: 30, 1.2%KU Leuven: 8, 46.2%Johannes Gutenberg U…Indian Institute of …Université Paris-Sac…University of Baghdad
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 Université Paris-SaclayFrance 65.719.3%10.7×12 +544.4%
2 Indian Institute of Technology RoorkeeIndia 57.423.6%10.3×13 +87.2%
3 University of BaghdadIraq 56.010.1%8.8×18 +288.1%
4 Johannes Gutenberg University MainzGermany 53.326.4%11.6×10 +0.3%
5 Technische Universität DarmstadtGermany 53.238.4%8.8×8 -7.0%
6 Michigan State UniversityUnited States 52.441.4%5.8×12 +3.6%
7 St Petersburg UniversityRussia 52.08.9%14.8×20 +44.3%
8 University of Notre DameUnited States 51.529.0%9.9×9 +18.5%
9 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 50.01.2%6.2×30 +211.2%
10 KU LeuvenBelgium 49.746.2%3.2×8 +66.7%

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 Atomic and Molecular Physics research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 31% lower than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2013.

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.