W. Helfrich

20.9k citations

124 papers · 16.1k indexed · 6 hit papers · h-index 55

Impact in

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials top 0.5%
- Liquid Crystal Research Advancements
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics top 0.2%
- Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications
- Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies

Papers in

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials 38
- Liquid Crystal Research Advancements 37
Physical and Theoretical Chemistry 15
- Electrostatics and Colloid Interactions 9

Co-authors: Peter Mark M. Schadt Ou-Yang Zhong-can R.M. Servuss H.J. Deuling W. G. Schneider Mathias Winterhalter J.‐H. FUHRHOP
Journals: Physical Review Letters (11 papers)The Journal of Chemical Physics (9 papers)Biophysical Journal (6 papers)Applied Physics Letters (5 papers)Journal de Physique II (5 papers)
Partner nations: Germany United States Switzerland

In The Last Decade

W. Helfrich

123 papers receiving 15.4k citations

Hit Papers

6 papers align trajectories log scale

Bending energy of vesicle membranes: General expressions for the first, second, and third variation of the shape energy and applications to spheres and cylinders 1989 · 490 citations

What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if any of the following hold:

it has ≥500 total citations;
it reaches ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (the threshold is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it);
it reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

1989 Physical review. A, General physics
1978 Zeitschrift für Naturforschung A
1973 Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C
1971 Applied Physics Letters
1969 The Journal of Chemical Physics
1962 Journal of Applied Physics

Peers

Countries citing papers authored by W. Helfrich

Since Specialization

Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of W. Helfrich's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by W. Helfrich with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites W. Helfrich more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by W. Helfrich

Since Specialization

Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by W. Helfrich. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by W. Helfrich. The network helps show where W. Helfrich may publish in the future.

Co-authors

The 25 scholars most cited alongside W. Helfrich, linked wherever they have co-authored with each other. Click a name or a connecting line to browse the papers they share.

Border = papers with W. Helfrich Line = papers co-authored together W. Helfrich links everyone, so they are left out of the graph.

All Works

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20 of 20 papers shown

#	Work
1	Cryo-transmission electron microscopy of a superstructure of fluid dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) membranes Biophysical Journal ·Beate Klösgen, W. Helfrich	1997	25
2	Bending tensions and the bending rigidity of fluid membranes Journal de Physique II ·W. Helfrich, Michael M. Kozlov	1993	18
3	Ferroelectrically switchable columnar liquid crystal Liquid Crystals ·Harald Böck, W. Helfrich	1992	90
4	Effects of a cosurfactant on the stretching and bending elasticities of a surfactant monolayer Langmuir ·Mikhail Kozlov, W. Helfrich	1992	88
5	Phases of egg phosphatidylcholine in an abundance of water Chemistry and Physics of Lipids ·W. Harbich, W. Helfrich	1990	9
6	Giant membranes of swollen phosphatidylethanolamines and glycolipids Journal de physique ·Michael Mutz, R.M. Servuss, W. Helfrich	1990	9
7	Bending energy of vesicle membranes: General expressions for the first, second, and third variation of the shape energy and applications to spheres and cylinders Physical review. A, General physics ·Ou-Yang Zhong-can, W. Helfrich Hit paper breakdown →	1989	490
8	Mutual adhesion of lecithin membranes at ultralow tensions Journal de physique ·R.M. Servuss, W. Helfrich	1989	84
9	The swelling of egg lecithin in water Chemistry and Physics of Lipids ·W. Harbich, W. Helfrich	1984	79
10	Liquid crystals of one- and two-dimensional order : proceedings of the Conference on Liquid Crystals of One- and Two-Dimensional Order and Their Applications, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Fed. Rep. of Germany, January 21-25, 1980 Springer eBooks ·Yanyan Zheng, W. Helfrich, G. Heppke	1980	4
11	Determination of red cell shape from random cross-sections: a commentary. PubMed ·W. Helfrich	1978	1
12	Passages in Lecithin-Water Systems Zeitschrift für Naturforschung A ·W. Harbich, R.M. Servuss, W. Helfrich	1978	40
13	Magnetic anisotropy of egg lecithin membranes Biophysical Journal ·E. Boroske, W. Helfrich	1978	76
14	Applications ofLiquid Crystals Europhysics news ·W. Helfrich	1976	17
15	Defect model of the solid-to-smectic B phase transition Physics Letters A ·W. Helfrich	1976	1
16	Out-of-Plane Fluctuations of Lipid Bilayers Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C ·W. Helfrich	1975	64
17	Elastic Properties of Lipid Bilayers: Theory and Possible Experiments Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C ·W. Helfrich Hit paper breakdown →	1973	4585
18	Torques in Sheared Nematic Liquid Crystals: A Simple Model in Terms of the Theory of Dense Fluids The Journal of Chemical Physics ·W. Helfrich	1970	34
19	Fluorescence and Defect Fluorescence of Anthracene at 4.2°K The Journal of Chemical Physics ·W. Helfrich, F. R. Lipsett	1965	85
20	Optical and electrical measurements of glow-curves in anthracene Physics Letters ·W. Helfrich, Ν. Riehl, Peter Thoma	1964	5

About W. Helfrich

W. Helfrich is a scholar working on Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Molecular Biology and Organic Chemistry, having authored 124 papers that have together received 16.1k indexed citations. Recurring topics across this work include Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior (57 papers), Liquid Crystal Research Advancements (37 papers), Surfactants and Colloidal Systems (23 papers), Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications (18 papers), Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies (14 papers), Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation (12 papers), Advanced Materials and Mechanics (10 papers) and Electrostatics and Colloid Interactions (9 papers). The work is most often cited by research in Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials (3.2k citations), Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics (4.7k citations), Organic Chemistry (3.7k citations), Physical and Theoretical Chemistry (1.1k citations) and Molecular Biology (7.7k citations). W. Helfrich has collaborated with scholars based in Germany, United States and Switzerland. Frequent co-authors include Peter Mark, M. Schadt, Ou-Yang Zhong-can, R.M. Servuss, H.J. Deuling, W. G. Schneider, Mathias Winterhalter, J.‐H. FUHRHOP, W. Harbich and Jacques Prost. Their work appears in journals such as Physical Review Letters, The Journal of Chemical Physics, Biophysical Journal, Applied Physics Letters and Journal de Physique II.

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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