Darmstadtium

Darmstadtium (Ds) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-25 · the last 10 years

Research intensity stands at about 12% of the element's own all-time peak, a level that has remained essentially flat over the last decade, with the historical peak occurring in 2009, outside this window.

Research intensity ran from about 9% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 12% in 2026 — essentially flat across the window, and the all-time peak (2009) lies before this window. Among the 118 elements, darmstadtium has one of the smaller research literatures of any element.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 6 in 2016 to about 16 in 2025 (2.67x). That is faster than the literature as a whole grew over the same years, so the element gained ground in the wider body of research.

The dominant research community is Superheavy Nuclei, Heavy-Ion Collisions, and Nuclear Structure. This group focuses on the synthesis of superheavy elements and the dynamics of fusion reactions, with distinctive work on sequential fission and element synthesis. Darmstadtium is a minor presence in this much larger community, with under 1% of its papers involving the element. Nevertheless, this community accounts for about 89% of darmstadtium's recent research, a share that has remained steady over the last two five-year periods. A key paper in this area is "Colliding heavy nuclei take multiple identities on the path to fusion" (2023), cited about 25 times, which examines the complex pathways of nuclear fusion. Another significant study, "Entrance channel dependent hot fusion reactions for superheavy element synthesis" (2020), cited about 58 times, explores the specific reaction channels used to create these heavy nuclei.

A second, smaller community is currently emerging, identified only as an unnamed research community. Darmstadtium is central to this small group, with about 50% of its papers involving the element. This community represents about 11% of the element's recent research, a share that is rising from zero in the previous period. The primary paper associated with this group is "Fine-Structure Constant Derived from the Structural Constant of All Atoms" (2026), cited once, which appears to explore theoretical connections between atomic structure and fundamental constants.

A third community, Transition Metal Complexes for Cancer Therapy and DNA Interaction, shows no current share of darmstadtium research, with the element being a minor presence in that field as well.

Overall, the composition of darmstadtium research has shifted slightly away from the broad superheavy nuclei field toward this small, emerging unnamed community, while the remainder of the literature has declined to zero. The element's research remains highly specialized, concentrated in nuclear physics, with a very small but growing presence in other theoretical areas.

For a deeper look at darmstadtium's current standing, see the Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.