Physical Review A

Physical Review A (also known as PRA) is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Physical Society covering atomic, molecular, and optical physics and quantum information. The current Editor is Gordon W. F. Drake (University of Windsor).

in 1893 the Physical Review was established at Cornell University. It was taken over by the American Physical Society (formed in 1899) in 1913. In 1970, Physical Review was subdivided into Physical Review A, B, C, and D. At that time section A was subtitled Physical Review A: General Physics. In 1990 a process was started to split this journal into two, resulting in the creation of Physical Review E in 1993. Hence, in 1993, Physical Review A changed its statement of scope to Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. In January 2007, the section of Physical Review E that published papers on classical optics was merged into Physical Review A, unifying the classical and quantum parts of optics into a single journal. In 2016, Physical Review A broadened its formal statement of coverage to explicitly include quantum information, which has been a section within the journal since 1998.

Physical Review A Rapid Communications was introduced in 1981 to provide a venue for quick publication of high-impact articles similar to Physical Review Letters, but for a more specialized audience. As of May 1, 2012, the editors have made more explicit the requirement for significance in Rapid articles. In addition, as of March 8, 2010, the editors have placed newly published Rapid Communications articles on rotation as highlights on the Physical Review A website, so as to give them more visibility.