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Topic · Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics

Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics is a research topic within Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics. Science Explorer counts 12k research works in it since 1950. 10.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers the foundations of electromagnetic theory, quantum field theory, and the behavior of light and electromagnetic forces in dielectric media. It explores topics such as momentum of light, radiation pressure, photon mass, gauge invariance, and classical electrodynamics.

  • Electromagnetic Theory
  • Quantum Field Theory
  • Momentum of Light
  • Dielectric Media
  • Radiation Pressure
  • Photon Mass
  • Gauge Invariance
  • Classical Electrodynamics
  • Relativistic Quantum Theory
  • Electromagnetic Forces
Research works
12k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-16%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
34% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics

Which countries lead Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (382 and 140 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 382 works
  2. 2 China 140 works
  3. 3 Germany 121 works
  4. 4 Russia 84 works
  5. 5 India 81 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 81 works
  7. 7 Brazil 74 works
  8. 8 Italy 59 works
  9. 9 Japan 55 works
  10. 10 France 50 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: 33.8%China: 12.4%Germany: 10.7%Russia: 7.5%6 others listed: 35.6%34%largest
United States382 · 33.8%China140 · 12.4%Germany121 · 10.7%Russia84 · 7.5%6 others listed401 · 35.6%

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

Which institutions lead Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics research?

By volume in 2022-now, OpenAI (United States) publishes the most Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Russian Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 OpenAI (United States)United States 29 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 22 works
  3. 3 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 21 works
  4. 4 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 16 works
  5. 5 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 15 works
  6. 6 Oldham CouncilUnited Kingdom 11 works
  7. 7 Brotherhood (United States)United States 11 works
  8. 8 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 10 works
  9. 9 Eastern Oklahoma State CollegeUnited States 9 works
  10. 10 Max Planck SocietyGermany 9 works

Who are the leading researchers in Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics include Zhong Lin Wang, Kenji Watanabe and Takashi Taniguchi.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 Kenji Watanabe Japan 237k citations
  3. 3 Takashi Taniguchi Japan 227k citations
  4. 4 Edward H. Witten United States 174k citations
  5. 5 A. Stahl Germany 170k 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 Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics?

The most cited paper in Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics is "Gauge theory correlators from non-critical string theory" (S.S. Gubser, I.R. Klebanov, A.M. Polyakov, 1998), with 9,403 citations. Next come "EXPGUI , a graphical user interface for GSAS" (9,279) and "On Gauge Invariance and Vacuum Polarization" (7,183).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Gauge theory correlators from non-critical string theory S.S. Gubser, I.R. Klebanov, A.M. Polyakov · Physics Letters B Open access May 1998 9,403
2 EXPGUI , a graphical user interface for GSAS Brian H. Toby · Journal of Applied Crystallography Apr 2001 9,279
3 On Gauge Invariance and Vacuum Polarization Julian Schwinger · Physical Review Jun 1951 7,183
4 Significance of Electromagnetic Potentials in the Quantum Theory Yakir Aharonov, David Böhm · Physical Review Open access Aug 1959 7,047
5 New dimensions at a millimeter to a fermi and superstrings at a TeV Ignatios Antoniadis, Nima Arkani-Hamed, Savas Dimopoulos et al. · Physics Letters B Open access Sep 1998 3,918
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics research done?

The largest centres of Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics research in 2022-now are Moscow (Russia), Beijing (China), San Francisco (United States) and Rome (Italy). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in San Francisco.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 MoscowRussia 38 works
  2. 2 BeijingChina 36 works
  3. 3 San FranciscoUnited States 32 works
  4. 4 RomeItaly 17 works
  5. 5 LondonUnited Kingdom 16 works
  6. 6 New YorkUnited States 16 works
  7. 7 TokyoJapan 16 works
  8. 8 ParisFrance 15 works
  9. 9 São PauloBrazil 14 works
  10. 10 Mexico CityMexico 13 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. San FranciscoUS · 32.3 works16×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics than the world average.

See Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics on the map

Where is the best place to study Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Cambridge, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Eastern Oklahoma State College 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.

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
1University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 90.58.0%6.3×10 +68.4%
2Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico 45.811.0%6.1×8 +16.7%
3Eastern Oklahoma State CollegeUnited States 29.13.3%13463.8×9 -

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 Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics, country by country

Is Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 16% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2026.

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 Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0024% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics0.0076% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics 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%Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics11.1% 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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