Does Excellence Correspond to Universal Inequality Level?

Abstract: We study the inequality of citations received for different publications of various researchers and Nobel laureates in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Economics using Google Scholar data from 2012 to 2024. Citation distributions are found to be highly unequal, with even greater disparity among Nobel laureates. Measures of inequality, such as the Gini and Kolkata indices, emerge as useful indicators for distinguishing Nobel laureates from others. Such high inequality corresponds to growing critical fluctuations, suggesting that excellence aligns with an imminent (self-organized dynamical) critical point. Additionally, Nobel laureates exhibit systematically lower values of the Tsallis--Pareto parameter ( b ) and Shannon entropy, indicating more structured citation distributions. We also analyze the inequality in Olympic medal tallies across countries and find similar levels of disparity. Our results suggest that inequality measures can serve as proxies for competitiveness and excellence.