The Top Ten lists in Physics feature papers published during the last
two years (excluding review articles) that were most cited in current
journal articles indexed by
Clarivate
during a recent two-month period. Papers are ranked according to the
latest bimonthly citation count. The articles below are accompanied by
expert discussion and analysis (including comments from the
papers’ authors) written by one of four veteran
scientist-journalists and longtime ScienceWatch.com
contributors.
After an absence of a few months,
recent papers on M2-branes return
to the Physics Top Ten. M2-branes
(the designation
“brane” is derived from
the word “membrane”)
are part of the framework of string
theory, an attempt to combine
general relativity and quantum
mechanics in an effort to find a
quantum theory of gravity. Among
other matters, the papers on M2
branes provide an algebraic
framework by which theorists can
test and advance these larger
constructs.
View Article
The latest release of data from the
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
(WMAP), marking the fifth such annual
publication of findings, continues to add to
the spacecraft’s impressive yield of
knowledge pertaining to cold dark matter, dark
energy, and other fundamental apects of
cosmology. In particular, WMAP has
contributed to the examination of how the
universe inflated after the Big Bang, and
whether or not the universe displays
curvature.
View Article
An assessment of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)
reviews the project’s many contributions to
astronomy. The SDSS telescope and its imaging equipment
have added immeasurably to knowledge of celestial
objects and the development of the universe. As of now,
more than 12,000 square degrees of the sky have been
imaged, and untold numbers of galaxies and quasars
fixed in the creation of three-dimensional maps. The
project is expecting to continue yielding data until
2014. View
Article
Research on
iron-based
superconductors continues to occupy the higher rungs among
the most-cited papers in physics. One 2008 report examines the
use of samarium in place of lanthanum in a
superconducting
compound, while other reports look at F doping and its effects.
Transition temperatures in iron-based superconductors continue
to edge up, moving toward the ultimate goal of achieving
superconductivity at room temperature. View
Article
String theory, the framework for understanding the fundamental
forces in the universe, has resurged in recent years,
particularly with refinements to so-called M-theory. A group of
recent papers examine M2-branes, which are entities that fit
into the multidimensional scheme of current string theory. The
work has required the invention of a new algebra to help
explain the dynamics of the system. In all, this new wave of
papers appears to constitute a third revolution in string
theory. View
Article
Space science currently accounts for half of the most-cited papers in
physics published over the last two years. These reports, in
particular, reflect the progression of cosmology—the effort to
understand the basic nature of the universe—from theory to a
precise science grounded in solid numerical models. Current Hot Papers
highlight recent findings on the makeup and characteristics of the
universe based on the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, the Hubble
Space Telescope, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. View Article