Sociology of Physics: comment and indices

marcus · Oct 12, 2012

At noon Pacific 12 October the stringy top five (grand, e-elegant, hidden, fabric, elegant) ranked 4305+6110+7810+8372+8749 for an average of 7069.
For a look at this index over time:

Code:

Midmonth averages of string topfive salesranks
(recorded at Pacific noon on several days around the 15th of each month)
...
July 2009           6485
November 2009         NA
March 2010          7521
July 2010           8461
November 2010       2220
March 2011           349
July 2011           1257
November 2011       1243
March 2012          3235 
July 2012           2359
September 2012      7163 
11 October          7179
12 October          7069
...

For brevity, only the March, July, November readings will be retained. It looks like the multiverse craze lasted just about 2 years, from September 2010 through August 2012. It could of course revive, however for the time being 3 of the top five tend to be "pre-craze" and only two (grand design and hidden reality) are primarily multiverse books.

marcus · Oct 15, 2012

At noon Pacific 15 October the pop-string topfive (hidden, grand, e-elegant, elegant, h-hidden) ranked 5537+6800+7071+9847+10256 for an average of 7902

Code:

...
September 2012      7163 
11 October          7179
12 October          7069
13 October          7604
14 October          5620
15 October          7902
16 October          ...    
17 October          ...    
18 October          ...         
...

Links:
http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...=&d2m=&d2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb
http://sites.google.com/site/grqcrumourmill/
http://particle.physics.ucdavis.edu/rumor/doku.php
http://www.calendardate.com/todays.htm
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/String_Theory
Schools, Conference sessions, Recorded Talks:
http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/en/Events/Loops_13/Loops_13/
http://gr20-amaldi10.edu.pl/index.php?id=18
http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/en/Events/Experimental_Search_for_QG/Experimental_Search_for_Quantum_Gravity%3A_the_hard_facts/
http://agenda.albanova.se/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=2998
http://physics.bnu.edu.cn/summerschool/en/index.php
Beijing: http://physics.bnu.edu.cn/summerschool/en/show_news.php?id=8
Tianjin: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=4048751#post4048751
Prague: http://ae100prg.mff.cuni.cz/abstracts
http://pirsa.org/
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/
Popular Higgs explanations:
http://www.physics.org/toplistdetail.asp?id=28
CERN Christmas party 2006:
http://resonaances.blogspot.com/2007/01/cern-th-2007.html[/QUOTE]

marcus · Oct 18, 2012

Midmonth pop-string salesrank index for October:
(7069+7604+5620+7902+7567+6815+8481)/7 = 7294

Code:

Midmonth averages of string topfive salesranks
(recorded at Pacific noon on several days around the 15th of each month)
...
July 2009           6485
November 2009         NA
March 2010          7521
July 2010           8461
November 2010       2220
March 2011           349
July 2011           1257
November 2011       1243
March 2012          3235 
July 2012           2359
September 2012      7163 
October 2012        729412 October          7069
13 October          7604
14 October          5620
15 October          7902
16 October          7567
17 October          6815  
18 October          8481

Eventually for brevity only March, July, November readings will be retained. An interesting change occurred between July and September 2012. The index, which had been down for two years (starting September 2010) jumped back up to previous levels.

As a sample, at noon 18 October the stringy top five on Amazon physics bestseller list were grand, hidden, e-elegant, fabric, e-grand, with average salesrank (6469+7260+8965+9309+10400)/5 = 8481

Last check of research posting rates was one week ago. Here's how it looks as of 18 October. For comparison with rates in past years, the 2012 figures are annualized, based on the same Inspire database searches.
18 October = 292/366.

LOOP RESEARCH BY YEAR (loop quantum gravity, loop quantum cosmology, spin foam)
2006 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2006&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (77 found)
2007 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2007&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (120 found)
2008 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2008&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (142 found)
2009 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2009&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (143 found)
2010 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2010&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (151 found)
2011 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2011&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (215 found)
2012 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (153 annualized from 122 found)

STRING,MEMBRANE,AdS/CFT RESEARCH BY YEAR
(search terms "string model", "membrane model" and "AdS/CFT correspondence")
2006 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2006&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1029 found)
2007 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2007&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1048 found)
2008 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2008&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1131 found)
2009 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2009&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1207 found)
2010 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2010&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1063 found)
2011 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2011&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1106 found)
2012 http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (786 annualized from 627 found)

marcus · Oct 30, 2012

In the indices we watch, there has been little change over the past two weeks. Here's how two research posting rates look as of 30 October = 304/366

(loop quantum gravity, loop quantum cosmology, spin foam)
2012 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (154 annualized from 128 found)

(search terms "string model", "membrane model" and "AdS/CFT correspondence")
2012 http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (784 annualized from 651 found)Links:
http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...=&d2m=&d2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb
http://sites.google.com/site/grqcrumourmill/
http://particle.physics.ucdavis.edu/rumor/doku.php
http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~poppitz/Jobs94-08
http://www.calendardate.com/todays.htm
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/String_Theory
Schools, Conference sessions, Recorded Talks:
http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/en/Events/Loops_13/Loops_13/
http://gr20-amaldi10.edu.pl/index.php?id=18
http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/en/Events/Experimental_Search_for_QG/Experimental_Search_for_Quantum_Gravity%3A_the_hard_facts/
http://agenda.albanova.se/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=2998
http://physics.bnu.edu.cn/summerschool/en/index.php
Beijing: http://physics.bnu.edu.cn/summerschool/en/show_news.php?id=8
Tianjin: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=4048751#post4048751
Prague: http://ae100prg.mff.cuni.cz/abstracts
http://pirsa.org/
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/
Popular Higgs explanations:
http://www.physics.org/toplistdetail.asp?id=28
CERN Christmas party 2006:
http://resonaances.blogspot.com/2007/01/cern-th-2007.html

marcus · Nov 4, 2012

marcus · Nov 10, 2012

Some of the links have changed, so here's a revised list:
http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...=&d2m=&d2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb
http://sites.google.com/site/grqcrumourmill/
http://particle.physics.ucdavis.edu/rumor/doku.php
http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~poppitz/Jobs94-08
http://www.calendardate.com/todays.htm
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/String_Theory
Schools, Conference sessions, Recorded Talks:
http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/conferences/loops-13
http://gr20-amaldi10.edu.pl/index.php?id=18
http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/conferences/experimental-search-quantum-gravity-hard-facts
http://pirsa.org/C12043
http://agenda.albanova.se/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=2998
http://physics.bnu.edu.cn/summerschool/en/index.php
Beijing: http://physics.bnu.edu.cn/summerschool/en/show_news.php?id=8
Tianjin: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=4048751#post4048751
Prague: http://ae100prg.mff.cuni.cz/abstracts
http://pirsa.org/
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/
Popular Higgs explanations:
http://www.physics.org/toplistdetail.asp?id=28
CERN Christmas party 2006:
http://resonaances.blogspot.com/2007/01/cern-th-2007.html

A spot check of the pop-string book market at noon on 10 November:
The stringy top five that day (e-elegant, grand, e-hidden, parallel, fabric) ranked 5294, 5813, 6350, 6687, 7356 for an average of 6336.

marcus · Nov 12, 2012

2012 publication rates as per the above Inspire search records, as of 12 November.
for loop: 158 annualized from 137 found
and for string/M/AdSCFT: 821 annualized from 711 found.
In the popular market at noon 12 November the stringy top five (e-elegant,grand,hidden,elegant,fabric) ranked 5098, 6979, 7371, 7843, 8021 for an average of 7062.
Incidentally as I recall the e-edition of Trouble with Physics was number one Amazon bestseller from 15 September to 2 November, mainly due to temporary special price and has now (at regular price) gone down to #6 or #7 on the list.

marcus · Nov 13, 2012

Setting up for the midmonth stringy salesrank average

Code:

Midmonth averages of string topfive salesranks
(recorded at Pacific noon on several days around the 15th of each month)
...
July 2009           6485
November 2009         NA
March 2010          7521
July 2010           8461
November 2010       2220
March 2011           349
July 2011           1257
November 2011       1243
March 2012          3235 
July 2012           2359
(September 2012     7163)
(October 2012       7294)

13 November         8578
14 November         ...
15 November         ...
16 November         ...
17 November         ...

Eventually for brevity only March, July, November readings will be retained. An interesting change occurred between July and September 2012. The index, which had been down for two years (starting September 2010) jumped back up to previous levels.

At noon 13 November the stringy top five on Amazon physics bestseller list (grand, hidden, fabric, e-elegant, elegant) ranked 7062, 7826, 8422, 9180, 10402 for an average of 8578.

Another conference/workshop link to add to the watch-list is a 2013 QG-etc. Zakopane school that has just been announced by Jerzy Lewandowski. It is planned for the first week of July, right before the GR-20 conference in Warsaw.
We can check the programs posted for such events to keep track of trends in the field: who is talking to whom about what. I'll fetch the link:
http://th-www.if.uj.edu.pl/school/2013/speakers&titles.html

marcus · Nov 14, 2012

Code:

Midmonth averages of string topfive salesranks
(recorded at Pacific noon on several days around the 15th of each month)
...
November 2011       1243
March 2012          3235 
July 2012           2359
(September 2012     7163)
(October 2012       7294)

13 November         8578
14 November         7656
15 November         ...
16 November         ...
17 November         ...

At noon 14 November the stringy top five on Amazon physics bestseller list (grand, e-elegant, hidden, fabric, parallel) ranked 5052, 6230, 7392, 8109, 11495 for an average of 7656.

marcus · Nov 16, 2012

Code:

13 November         8578
14 November         7656
15 November         9914
16 November         6271 
17 November         ...

At noon 15 November the stringy top five on Amazon physics bestseller list (fabric, parallel, grand, e-elegant, h-grand) ranked 6470, 7030, 8254, 8688, 10442 for an average of 9914.
At noon 16 November grand, fabric, e-elegant, elegant, h-grand ranked 3360 5129, 6189, 8297, 8379 for average 6271.

marcus · Nov 17, 2012

Code:

Midmonth averages of string topfive salesranks
(recorded at Pacific noon on several days around the 15th of each month)
...
July 2009           6485
November 2009         NA
March 2010          7521
July 2010           8461
November 2010       2220
March 2011           349
July 2011           1257
November 2011       1243
March 2012          3235 
July 2012           2359
September     (7163)
October       (7294)
November 2012       7792

Saturday 17 November the noon stringy topfive salesrank average was 6540, making the mid-month figure (averaging around the 15th of November) equal to 7792.
The top five titles on 17 November were grand, fabric, e-grand, hidden, e-elegant.
Publication, cites, jobs
http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...=&d2m=&d2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb
http://sites.google.com/site/grqcrumourmill/
http://particle.physics.ucdavis.edu/rumor/doku.php
http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~poppitz/Jobs94-08
http://www.calendardate.com/todays.htm
Schools, Conference sessions, Recorded Talks
2013 and current:
http://pirsa.org/
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/
Zakopane http://th-www.if.uj.edu.pl/school/2013/speakers&titles.html
Loops http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/conferences/loops-13
Warsaw http://gr20-amaldi10.edu.pl/index.php?id=18
2012:
Perimeter http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/conferences/experimental-search-quantum-gravity-hard-facts
http://pirsa.org/C12043
Stockholm http://agenda.albanova.se/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=2998
Beijing http://physics.bnu.edu.cn/summerschool/en/index.php
http://physics.bnu.edu.cn/summerschool/en/show_news.php?id=8
Tianjin https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=4048751#post4048751
Prague http://ae100prg.mff.cuni.cz/abstracts
Miscellany
http://www.physics.org/toplistdetail.asp?id=28
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/String_Theory
http://resonaances.blogspot.com/2007/01/cern-th-2007.html

marcus · Nov 20, 2012

Research posting rates based on the same database search in each consecutive year. The 2012 figures (as of 20 November = 325/366) are annualized for comparison.

LOOP RESEARCH BY YEAR (loop quantum gravity, loop quantum cosmology, spin foam)
2006 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2006&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (77 found)
2007 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2007&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (120 found)
2008 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2008&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (142 found)
2009 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2009&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (143 found)
2010 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2010&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (151 found)
2011 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2011&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (215 found)
2012 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (159 annualized from 141 found)

STRING,MEMBRANE,AdS/CFT RESEARCH BY YEAR
(search terms "string model", "membrane model" and "AdS/CFT correspondence")
2006 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2006&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1029 found)
2007 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2007&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1048 found)
2008 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2008&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1131 found)
2009 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2009&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1211 found)
2010 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2010&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1077 found)
2011 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2011&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1106 found)
2012 http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (831 annualized from 738 found)

A similar search for quantum cosmology research since 2009:
http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=50&sc=0&of=hb (415 found, as of 20 November)
The Loop papers represent about half of the 415 quantum cosmology papers found by the search, and most of the highly cited ones.

The following "desy" search is specialized to find research that appeared 2009 or later exploring ways of TESTING quantum cosmology. It is slow, doesn't always work, gets comparatively few papers, but could be useful on occasion:
http://www-library.desy.de/cgi-bin/spiface/find/hep/www?rawcmd=FIND+%28DK+LOOP+SPACE+AND+%28QUANTUM+GRAVITY+OR+QUANTUM+COSMOLOGY%29+%29+AND+%28GRAVITATIONAL+RADIATION+OR+PRIMORDIAL+OR+inflation+or+POWER+SPECTRUM+OR+COSMIC+BACKGROUND+RADIATION%29+AND+DATE%3E2008&FORMAT=www&SEQUENCE=citecount%28d%29
It worked just now, after a 20 second wait, and came up with 65 papers (related to QC phenomenology, i.e. observational testing.)

At noon 20 November, average salesrank of pop-string top five (grand, fabric, hidden, h-grand, elegant) was 7967.

marcus · Nov 23, 2012

As of 23 November
2012 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (161 annualized from 144 found)2012 http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (837 annualized from 750 found)

marcus · Nov 28, 2012

marcus · Dec 12, 2012

marcus · Dec 18, 2012

The Loops 2013 conference organizers have begun posting a preliminary list of speakers. Here are a few of the names (more to be posted later.)

Eugenio Bianchi, Perimeter Institute

Steve Carlip, University of California, Davis

Fay Dowker, Imperial College, London

Razvan Gurau, Université Paris-Sud

Kirill Krasnov, University of Nottingham

Etera Livine, Ens de Lyon

Alejandro Perez, Centre de Physique Theorique

Silke Weinfurtner, SISSA

Update on research posting rates based on the same database search in each consecutive year. The 2012 figures (as of 18 December = 353/366) are annualized for comparison.

LOOP RESEARCH BY YEAR (loop quantum gravity, loop quantum cosmology, spin foam)
2006 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2006&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (77 found)
2007 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2007&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (120 found)
2008 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2008&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (142 found)
2009 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2009&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (143 found)
2010 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2010&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (151 found)
2011 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2011&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (215 found)
2012 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (162 annualized from 156 found)

STRING,MEMBRANE,AdS/CFT RESEARCH BY YEAR
(search terms "string model", "membrane model" and "AdS/CFT correspondence")
2006 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2006&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1029 found)
2007 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2007&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1047 found)
2008 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2008&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1131 found)
2009 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2009&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1214 found)
2010 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2010&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1093 found)
2011 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2011&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1109 found)
2012 http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (841 annualized from 811 found)

Quantum cosmology research since 2009:
http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=50&sc=0&of=hb (430 found, as of 18 December)
The Loop papers represent about half of the quantum cosmology papers found, and a larger percentage of those most highly cited: e.g. 27 out of the top 30 papers citewise.

This search is specialized to find research that appeared 2009 or later exploring ways of TESTING quantum cosmology (phenomenology, comparing QC models with observation.)
http://www-library.desy.de/cgi-bin/spiface/find/hep/www?rawcmd=FIND+%28DK+LOOP+SPACE+AND+%28QUANTUM+GRAVITY+OR+QUANTUM+COSMOLOGY%29+%29+AND+%28GRAVITATIONAL+RADIATION+OR+PRIMORDIAL+OR+inflation+or+POWER+SPECTRUM+OR+COSMIC+BACKGROUND+RADIATION%29+AND+DATE%3E2008&FORMAT=www&SEQUENCE=citecount%28d%29
A bit slow, it worked just now after about a 10 second wait, and came up with 66 papers.

Publication, cites, jobs
http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...=&d2m=&d2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb
http://sites.google.com/site/grqcrumourmill/
http://particle.physics.ucdavis.edu/rumor/doku.php
http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~poppitz/Jobs94-08
http://www.calendardate.com/todays.htm
Schools, Conference sessions, Recorded Talks
2013 and current:
http://pirsa.org/
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/
Zakopane http://th-www.if.uj.edu.pl/school/2013/speakers&titles.html
Loops http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/conferences/loops-13
Warsaw http://gr20-amaldi10.edu.pl/index.php?id=18
2012:
Perimeter http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/conferences/experimental-search-quantum-gravity-hard-facts
http://pirsa.org/C12043
Stockholm http://agenda.albanova.se/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=2998
Beijing http://physics.bnu.edu.cn/summerschool/en/index.php
http://physics.bnu.edu.cn/summerschool/en/show_news.php?id=8
Tianjin https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=4048751#post4048751
Prague http://ae100prg.mff.cuni.cz/abstracts
Miscellany
http://www.physics.org/toplistdetail.asp?id=28
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/String_Theory
http://resonaances.blogspot.com/2007/01/cern-th-2007.html

marcus · Jan 8, 2013

marcus · Jan 12, 2013

It can shed some light on current developments in HEP-theory to look at the "short lists" of Physics departments in Usa and Canada--of young theoretical particle physicists being considered for first time faculty appointments. What are the research interests of those young researchers who have made it onto the short lists of departments at various universities where there are openings? This information is from
http://particle.physics.ucdavis.edu/rumor/doku.php
which does not claim completeness or complete reliability. It will be updated as the year progresses. Judging from past experience, final decisions on first-time faculty hires will probably all be made by some time in August or September.

Kfir Blum
Nathaniel Craig
Yanou Cui
Liam Fitzpatrick
Raphael Flauger
Daniel Green
Enrico Pajer
Rafael Porto
Surjeet Rajendran
Josh Ruderman
Jessie Shelton
Michael Trott
Andre Walker-Loud

The publication listings give some idea of the research interests and thus an indication of which lines of research physics departments see as promising and where they want additional faculty strength.

http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Blum,+K
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Craig,+N
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Cui,+Y
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Fitzpatrick,+L
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Flauger,+R
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+ea+Green,+Daniel
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Pajer,+E
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Porto,+R
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Rajendran,+S
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Ruderman,+J
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Shelton,+J
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Trott,+M
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Walker-Loud,+A

To put 2013 hiring in context here are:
Annual first time faculty hires in theoretical particle physics (Usa + Canada)
(Up through 2010, the rates are averaged over 3 years intervals.)

Code:

period          1999-2001   2002-2004   2005-2007   2008-2010  2011   2012
HEP theory hires   18         24          23          13        11     12
string hires        9          8           6           2         1      1

The source used for 2012: http://particle.physics.ucdavis.edu/rumor/doku.php
Source for previous years: http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~poppitz/Jobs94-08

As a footnote on the popular book market, as of noon 12 January the top five stringy titles (e-elegant, grand, fabric, e-grand, parallel) ranked 6065, 7348, 10518, 13643, 14481, for an average of 10411.
The following record put's that in context:
]

Code:

Midmonth averages of string topfive salesranks
(recorded at Pacific noon on several days around the 15th of each month)
...
July 2009           6485
November 2009         NA
March 2010          7521
July 2010           8461
November 2010       2220
March 2011           349
July 2011           1257
November 2011       1243
March 2012          3235 
July 2012           2359
November 2012       7792 
(12 January 2013   10411)

marcus · Jan 13, 2013

corrected links from previous post:
http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&ln=en&p=find+a+Fitzpatrick,+A+L
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/schedulesp13.html

At noon 13 Jan, the pop string top five salesrank average was 9091. The five bestselling stringy titles were
e-elegant, grand, e-hidden, fabric, and parallel.

2013 publications link:
http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...=&d2m=&d2y=2013&sf=&so=a&rm=&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb

marcus · Jan 15, 2013

A mid-January pop-string sales rank reading is only an informal check because for conciseness I'm only saving March, July, November figures, but as a way of keeping track in between times here how it's going:

12 Jan 10411
13 Jan 9091
14 Jan 9034
15 Jan 9325
...
...
The stringy top five titles on 15 January were grand, fabric, e-elegant, hidden, e-grand and their average sales rank was 9325.

marcus · Jan 16, 2013

At noon Pacific 16 January the stringy top five (e-elegant, fabric, hidden, grand, e-hidden) ranked 8665, 10530, 11046, 11205, 18745, for an average salesrank of 12038.
An addition to the list of those considered for first-time faculty appointments in HEP-theory:

Ilarion Melnikov
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Melnikov,+I

marcus · Jan 17, 2013

A miscellaneous bit of local color:
"Nevertheless, there is a feeling in the air that the postmodern epoch particle physics is drawing to a close." http://resonaances.blogspot.com/2007/01/cern-th-2007.html

It was just announced today that Inspire, the SLAC/Stanford data base that replaced Spires, has posted the annual topcite list for 2011:

http://blog.inspirehep.net/2013/01/topcites-2011-edition.html
http://inspirehep.net/info/hep/stats/topcites/2011/annual.html

After every year Spires used to post a list of the 50 or 100 HEP papers that had been most highy cited during that year. (Spires also posted an All-Time Topcite list each year but ranking based on all-time cumulative totals changed little and was less informative about the current situation and trends.)
The new research database INSPIRE has continued this tradition by posting a TOP FORTY list. This is not precisely comparable, because 40 rather than 50, but close enough so we can keep tracking the number of RECENT (from past 5 five years) string papers making the list.

Number of recent string papers making the top fifty* in the Spires/Inspires HEP annual topcite list
(some years omitted for brevity)

Code:

year                2001    2003    2005    2007    2009    2010   2011  
recent top-50 work   12       6       2       1      1       0       0

Here a paper is counted as recent if it appeared any time in the past five years. Annual topcite lists gauge the currently perceived significance of recent work by how often it was cited by other researchers during the given year.
*In 2011 the annual Inspire "top 40" replaces the Spires list.

Links to sources:
2001 http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/topcites/2001/annual.shtml (twelve)
2003 http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/topcites/2003/annual.shtml (six)
2005 http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/topcites/2005/annual.shtml (two)
2007 http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/topcites/2007/annual.shtml (one)
2009 http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/topcites/2009/annual.shtml (one)
2010 http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/topcites/2010/annual.shtml (zero)
2011 http://inspirehep.net/info/hep/stats/topcites/2011/annual.html (zero)

Since we've turned a page, I'll bring forward the corresponding record of string hires, as a fraction of total in HEP-theory.
Annual first time faculty hires in theoretical particle physics (Usa + Canada)
(Up through 2010, the rates are averaged over 3 years intervals.)

Code:

period          1999-2001   2002-2004   2005-2007   2008-2010  2011   2012
HEP theory hires   18         24          23          13        11     12
string hires        9          8           6           2         1      1

The source used for 2012: http://particle.physics.ucdavis.edu/rumor/doku.php
Source for previous years: http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~poppitz/Jobs94-08

At noon 17 January the pop-string top five (e-elegant, fabric, hidden, grand, e-grand) had an average sales rank of 12668.
(8528+10299+10574+13866+20072)/5

marcus · Jan 18, 2013

Update on research posting rates based on the same database search in each consecutive year. The 2013 figures, as of 18 January) can be annualized for comparison.

LOOP RESEARCH BY YEAR (loop quantum gravity, loop quantum cosmology, spin foam)
2006 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2006&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (77 found)
2007 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2007&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (120 found)
2008 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2008&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (142 found)
2009 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2009&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (143 found)
2010 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2010&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (151 found)
2011 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2011&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (215 found)
2012 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb 163 found
2013 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2013&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=25&sc=0&of=hb (6 found)

STRING,MEMBRANE,AdS/CFT RESEARCH BY YEAR
(search terms "string model", "membrane model" and "AdS/CFT correspondence")
2006 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2006&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1029 found)
2007 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2007&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1047 found)
2008 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2008&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1131 found)
2009 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2009&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1214 found)
2010 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2010&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1093 found)
2011 http://inspirebeta.net/search?ln=en...2y=2011&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (1108 found)
2012 http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...2y=2012&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (844 found)
2013 http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...2y=2013&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=10&sc=0&of=hb (28 found)

Quantum cosmology research since 2009:
http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&...2y=2013&sf=&so=a&rm=citation&rg=50&sc=0&of=hb (442 found)
The Loop papers represent about half of the quantum cosmology papers found, and a larger percentage of those most highly cited: e.g. 24 out of the top 30 papers citewise.

This next search is specialized to find research that appeared 2009 or later exploring ways of TESTING quantum cosmology (phenomenology, comparing QC models with observation.)
http://www-library.desy.de/cgi-bin/spiface/find/hep/www?rawcmd=FIND+%28DK+LOOP+SPACE+AND+%28QUANTUM+GRAVITY+OR+QUANTUM+COSMOLOGY%29+%29+AND+%28GRAVITATIONAL+RADIATION+OR+PRIMORDIAL+OR+inflation+or+POWER+SPECTRUM+OR+COSMIC+BACKGROUND+RADIATION%29+AND+DATE%3E2008&FORMAT=www&SEQUENCE=citecount%28d%29
A bit slow, when last tested it worked after about a 10 second wait, and came up with 68 papers.I'm only saving March, July, November pop-string salesrank figures, but as a way of keeping track in between times here how it's going:

12 Jan 10411
13 Jan 9091
14 Jan 9034
15 Jan 9325
16 Jan 12038
17 Jan 12688
18 Jan 12319
...
The stringy top five titles on 18 January ( e-elegant, fabric, grand, e-grand, hidden) had salesranks 5620+9472+12322+14971+19107 for an average of 12319

Code:

Midmonth averages of string topfive salesranks
(recorded at Pacific noon on several days around the 15th of each month)
...
July 2009           6485
November 2009         NA
March 2010          7521
July 2010           8461
November 2010       2220
March 2011           349
July 2011           1257
November 2011       1243
March 2012          3235 
July 2012           2359
November 2012       7792 
(January 2013      10701)

(10411+9091+9034+9325+12038+12688+12319)/7

marcus · Jan 24, 2013

marcus · Jan 25, 2013

More appeared on shortlists today:
Piyush Kumar
Josef Pradler
Haibo Yu
Tuhin Roy

http://inspirehep.net/search?p=author:P.Kumar.4+exactauthor:"Kumar,+Piyush"
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Pradler,+J
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=author:H.B.Yu.1+
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=author:T.Roy.1+exactauthor:"Roy,+Tuhin+S."

marcus · Jan 31, 2013

marcus · Feb 6, 2013

marcus · Feb 8, 2013

Spot check on pop-string book market. At noon 8 February the top five stringybooks (grand, fabric, elegant, e-grand, e-elegant) ranked 7538, 10121, 11923, 12856, 12975 for an average of 11083.

Code:

Midmonth averages of string topfive salesranks
(recorded at Pacific noon on several days around the 15th of each month)
...
July 2009           6485
November 2009         NA
March 2010          7521
July 2010           8461
November 2010       2220
March 2011           349
July 2011           1257
November 2011       1243
March 2012          3235 
July 2012           2359
November 2012       7792 
(January 2013      10701)
(8 February spot   11083)

marcus · Feb 11, 2013

marcus · Feb 13, 2013

An addition to the HEP theory first time faculty appointment short-list:
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Batell,+B
As of noon Pacific 12 Feb the top five pop-string books (grand, e-elegant, hidden, fabric, elegant) ranked 7706, 8831, 9925, 10281, 12991, for an average of 9947.

As of noon Pacific 13 Feb the top five pop-string books (grand, fabric, e-elegant, elegant, v-elegant) ranked 6505+9184+11030+11330+12395 for an average of 10089.

marcus · Feb 15, 2013

Code:

Midmonth averages of string topfive salesranks
(recorded at Pacific noon on several days around the 15th of each month)
...
July 2009           6485
November 2009         NA
March 2010          7521
July 2010           8461
November 2010       2220
March 2011           349
July 2011           1257
November 2011       1243
March 2012          3235 
July 2012           2359
November 2012       7792 
(January 2013      10701)
(February 2013       ?  )

At noon 14 Feb the top five stringy pop titles (grand, e-elegant, audio-parallel, fabric, elegant) ranked 5320, 7753, 8272, 10761, 11329, for an average of 8687.
As of noon 15 Feb top five stringy pop titles (grand, e-elegant, parallel, fabric, elegant) rank 6767, 6909, 8555, 10500, 10570, for an average of 8660.
So far the mid-February numbers are:

12 Feb 9947
13 Feb 10089
14 Feb 8687
15 Feb 8660
16 Feb ...
17 Feb ...

marcus · Feb 18, 2013

Additional link to check for Planck spacecraft results:
http://www.rssd.esa.int/index.php?project=planck

Code:

Midmonth averages of string topfive salesranks
(recorded at Pacific noon on several days around the 15th of each month)
...
July 2009           6485
November 2009         NA
March 2010          7521
July 2010           8461
November 2010       2220
March 2011           349
July 2011           1257
November 2011       1243
March 2012          3235 
July 2012           2359
November 2012       7792 
(January 2013      10701)
(February 2013      8594)

12 Feb 9947
13 Feb 10089
14 Feb 8687
15 Feb 8660
16 Feb 8182
17 Feb 6000

marcus · Feb 19, 2013

marcus · Feb 20, 2013

marcus · Feb 28, 2013

Very little change in the above list.
One addition, over the past 8 days.
http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+a+Faulkner,+T

Eleven of the invited speakers at Loops 2013 (to be held in July) have been announced:

Ivan Agullo, DAMPT Cambridge (formerly at Pennsylvania State University)

Aurelien Barrau, Universite Joseph Fourier

Eugenio Bianchi, Perimeter Institute

Steve Carlip, University of California, Davis

Fay Dowker, Imperial College, London

Razvan Gurau, Université Paris-Sud

Kirill Krasnov, University of Nottingham

Etera Livine, Ens de Lyon

Alejandro Perez, Centre de Physique Theorique

David Skinner, DAMPT Cambridge, IAS

Silke Weinfurtner, DAMPT Cambridge, IAS

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