H-b index

The "h-b"-index is an extension of the h-index suggested in 2005 by Jorge E. Hirsch of the University of California, San Diego to quantify the scientific productivity of physicists and other scientists based on their publication record. The "h-b"-index developed by Michael Banks of the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Germany, takes the index further by evaluating the impact of compounds used in solid-state physics and scientific topics in general.

The "h-b"-index is defined in the same manner as the h-index, but is based on a topic (or compound) search instead of a scientists name. The h-index defined by J. Hirsch is:::"A scientist has index h if h of his/her N_p papers have at least h citations each, and the other (N_p – h) papers have at most h citations each."

For the case of a topic it is useful to define the "h-b" index in terms of the number of years, "n" as $h\; =\; nm$If the "h-b" index is linear with the number of years, then "m" is given as the gradient. In this respect, a compound or topic with a large "m" and "h-b" index can be defined as a hot topic.

Online web programs are available to directly calculate a scientist's M-number and H-index values, such as [http://www.epidemiologic.org/2006/12/h-index-calculator-of-scientist-impact.html Epidemiologic] and [http://www.harzing.com/resources.htm#/pop.htm Publish and Perish] .

"h-b" and "m" -indices of some topics in Physics

Based on the Science Citation Index (SCI) under the [http://isiknowledge.com Web Of Science(WoS)] , (as of May 2006):
*carbon nanotubes: "h-b" = 167 "m" = 12.85
*Nanowires: "h-b" = 105 "m" = 8.75
*quantum dots: "h-b" = 149 "m" = 7.84
*fullerenes: "h-b" = 140 "m" = 7.78
*giant magnetoresistance: "h-b" = 116 "m" = 6.82
*M-theory: "h-b" = 79 "m" = 6.58
*quantum computation: "h-b" = 73 "m" = 5.21
*Teleportation: "h-b" = 61 "m" = 5.08
*superstrings: "h-b" = 99 "m" = 3.96
*heavy fermion: "h-b" = 97 "m" = 3.73
*Spin valve: "h-b" = 48 "m" = 3.43
*spin glass: "h-b" = 108 "m" = 3.38
*porous silicon: "h-b" = 104 "m" =3.25
*Quantum Critical Point: "h-b" = 42 "m" = 2.63
*geometrical frustration: "h-b" = 21 "m" = 2.63
*Quantum information: "h-b" = 65 "m" = 2.41
*magnetoresistance: "h-b" = 172 "m" = 2.39
*spin ice: "h-b" = 17 "m" = 2.13
*perovskites: "h-b" = 103 "m" = 2.10
*kondo AND lattice: "h" = 63 "m" = 1.97
*Spin liquid: "h-b" = 45 "m" = 1.55
*ferroelectricity: "h-b" = 78 "m" = 1.39
*Spin frustration: "h-b" = 30 "m" = 1.36
*Amorphous silicon: "h-b" = 116 "m" = 1.10
*Antiferroquadrupolar: "h-b" = 18 "m" = 1.00
*Optical lattice: "h-b" = 43 "m" = 0.90
*Spin flop: "h-b" = 34 "m" = 0.83
*pyrochlore: "h-b"= 61 "m" = 0.62
*Boride: "h-b" = 46 "m" =0.44

A more complete database can be found [http://www.mikebanks.org/hbindex.htm here]

"h-b" and "m" -indices of some compounds in Solid-state Physics

*C-60: ("h-b" = 182 "m" = 5.20)
*GaN: ("h-b" = 144 "m" = 2.12)
*SrTiO3: ("h-b" = 94 "m" = 1.96)
*CeCu2Si2: ("h-b" = 39 "m" = 1.44)
*MgB2: ("h-b" = 67 "m" = 1.31)
*Nb3Sn: ("h-b" = 48 "m" = 0.94)
*Ni2MnGa: ("h-b" = 37 "m" = 0.82)
*V3Si: ("h-b" = 39 "m" = 0.77)
*CeB6: ("h-b" = 32 "m" = 0.76)
*Si28: ("h-b" = 17 "m" = 0.31)

A more complete database can be found [http://www.mikebanks.org/hbindex.htm here]

See also

* Bibliometrics
* h-index
* Impact factor
* [http://www.epidemiologic.org/2006/12/h-index-calculator-of-scientist-impact.html Online program to calculate a scientist's M-number and H-index impact values]
* A simple [http://www.brics.dk/~mis/hnumber.html web script to compute an H-index] based on Google_Scholar
* The [http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~palsberg/h-number.html H-index for computer science]
* A [http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/loadFile.do?objectId=9710&objectType=file#review_submission MATLAB script] to compute the h-index
* [http://www.harzing.com/pop.htm Publish or Perish] calculates various statistics, including the h-index and the g-index using Google Scholar data

References

* [http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/102/46/16569 "An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output,"] PNAS 102(46):16569-16572, November 15 2005.
*Hirsch, Jorge E., (2005), [http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/?0508025 "An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output"] .
*Banks, Michael G., (2006), [http://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/physics/0604216 "An extension of the Hirsch Index: Indexing scientific topics and compounds"] .
* [http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060515/full/441265a.html "Top five in Physics"] , Nature May (2006).
* [http://www.physicsweb.org/articles/news/10/5/4/1 "Hottest topics in Physics revealed"] , PhysicsWeb May (2006).