The Evolution of Lattice Field Theory: a Statistical Study

TL;DR

This study analyzes the evolution of lattice field theory research over three decades using arXiv data, comparing publication trends, citations, and socio-economic factors across nations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive statistical analysis of lattice field theory's development and its relation to socio-economic indices, offering new insights into research dynamics.

Findings

Lattice field theory has grown steadily since the 1990s.

Research activity correlates with national GDP and education levels.

Ranking based on Hirsch Index and combined metrics reveals key contributing nations.

Abstract

Researchers working in lattice field theory constitute an established community since the early 1990s, and around the same time the online open-access e-print repository arXiv was created. The fact that this field has a specific arXiv section, hep-lat, provides a unique opportunity for a statistical study of its evolution over the last three decades. We present data for the number of entries, $E$, published papers, $P$, and citations, $C$, in total and separated by nations. We compare them to 6 other arXiv sections, and to socio-economic indices of the nations involved, namely the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Education Index (EI). We present rankings, which are based either on the Hirsch Index $H$, or on the linear combination $\Sigma = E + P + 0.05 C$. We consider both extensive and intensive national statistics, i.e. absolute and relative to the population or to the GDP.