How Integrated are Theoretical and Applied Physics?

Abstract

How well integrated are 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 quantifying 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 level of integration between more theoretical and applied journals, which are also characterized by remarkably similar centralities in the network.