How Integrated are Theoretical and Applied Physics?
arXiv:1712.07507 · doi:10.1007/s11192-018-2777-8
Abstract
How well integrated are more theoretically and application oriented works in Physics currently? This interesting question, which has several relevant implications, has been approached mostly in a more subjective way. Recent concepts and methods from network science are used in the current work in order to develop a more principled, quantitative and objective approach to gauging the integration and centrality of more theoretical/applied journals within the APS journals database, represented as a directed and undirected citation network. The results suggest a surprising level of integration between more theoretically and application oriented journals, which are also characterized by remarkably similar centralities in the network.