Inside the frontier areas of research in physics: A micro level analysis

In an earlier study,(1) a methodology was described for identifying Frontie r Areas in a research field, i.e., areas which experienced in a particular time period significant increase in research output in comparison to a prec eding time period. The application of this methodology was shown by identif ying Frontier Areas of research in Physics in 1995. Comparison was done wit h respect to the outputs in different areas in 1990, Profiles of countries active in the identified Frontier Areas were then constructed. In this paper, attempt is made to reveal the active research topics/themes within these Frontier Areas in 1990 and 1995. The active research topics, w hich are uncovered, are classified as Frontier Topics. Countries active in these frontier topics are distinguished in each time period. Association am ong countries and Frontier Topics are observed using the multivariate techn ique of correspondence analysis. Dynamics are observed by analysing the cha nges in the profiles of the countries in the two time periods. Results and implications of this study for decision-making and as a policy tool are hig hlighted.