Abstract

From small steps to great leaps, metaphors of spatial mobility abound to describe discovery processes. Here, we ground these ideas in formal terms by systematically studying mobility patterns in the scientific knowledge landscape. We use low-dimensional embedding techniques to create a knowledge space made up of 1.5 million articles from the fields of physics, computer science, and mathematics. By analyzing the publication histories of individual researchers, we discover patterns of scientific mobility that closely resemble physical mobility. In aggregate, the trajectories form mobility flows that can be described by a gravity model, with jumps more likely to occur in areas of high density and less likely to occur over longer distances. We identify two types of researchers from their individual mobility patterns: interdisciplinary explorers who pioneer new fields, and exploiters who are more likely to stay within their specific areas of expertise. Our results suggest that spatial mobility analysis is a valuable tool for understanding the evolution of science.

中文翻译：

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绘制科学知识领域的流动模式

摘要

从小步到大跃进，空间流动性的隐喻比比皆是用来描述发现过程。在这里，我们通过系统地研究科学知识领域的流动模式，以正式的术语为这些想法奠定了基础。我们使用低维嵌入技术创建一个由来自物理、计算机科学和数学领域的 150 万篇文章组成的知识空间。通过分析个别研究人员的出版历史，我们发现了与身体流动非常相似的科学流动模式。总的来说，这些轨迹形成了可以用重力模型描述的移动流，跳跃更有可能发生在高密度区域，而不太可能发生在较长距离上。我们根据个人流动模式识别出两类研究人员：开拓新领域的跨学科探索者，以及更有可能留在其特定专业领域的探索者。我们的结果表明，空间移动性分析是理解科学演变的一个有价值的工具。