Two themes, both of which have challenged astronomers and
cosmologists, are played out in the Special Topics two-year and
ten-year lists of the hottest papers in the field of dark matter and
dark energy: the first is the absence of luminous mass in the
universe, and the second is the presence of a repulsive force
accelerating the expansion of the universe.
Over the past decade, the Special Topics ranking of the hottest
papers in the field is dominated by analyses of the dark matter halos
of galaxies and how they constrain possible dark matter cosmologies.
Nearly half of the top 20 papers are on this theme. Other papers on
the decade’s top 20 list include a review of possible supersymmetric
dark matter candidates and studies of what the cosmic ray background
anisotropies and the Lyman-alpha spectral absorption lines say about
the nature of cold dark matter.
Over the past two years, the hottest papers are dominated by those
examining dark energy and the cosmological constant. A half dozen of
the hottest papers examine possible dark-energy candidates and their
consequences. Another half dozen papers follow the theme of the decade
and stay on the structure and dynamics of dark matter in galactic
halos, although with a new twist involving the revelations that emerge
from studies of gravitational lens galaxies. Other papers on two-year
list include an update on a cryogenic search for WIMPs (Weakly
Interacting Massive Particles), and two reports on the use of
supernovae as dark-energy probes.
Methodology
To construct this database,
papers were extracted based on title- supplied keywords for
Dark Matter and Dark Energy. The keywords used were as follows:
dark matter
or
dark energy
The baseline time span for this database
is 1994-2004 (third bimonthly). The resulting database contained 1,988 (10 years)
and 756 (2 years) papers; 2,955 authors; 54 countries; 138 journals; and
702 institutions.
Rankings
Once the database was in place,
it was used to generate the lists of top 20 papers (two, and ten years
periods), authors, journals,
institutions, and nations, covering a time span of 1994-2004 (third
bimonthly).
The top 20 papers are ranked
according to total cites. Rankings for author, journal, institution,
and country are listed in three ways: according to total cites, total
papers, and total cites/paper. The paper thresholds used to determine
scientist, institution, country, and journal rankings according to
total cites/paper were as follows: 15, 14, 11, and 8, respectively. These
thresholds correspond to the top 1% of authors,
1% of institutions, 50% of countries and 20% of journals by total papers.
