Physical Review Letters Celebrates 50 Years

Milestone Letters: Asymptotic Freedom

Mon, 05 May 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 2004

Ultraviolet Behavior of Non-Abelian Gauge Theories
David J. Gross and Frank Wilczek
Phys. Rev. Lett. 30, 1343 (1973)

Reliable Perturbative Results for Strong Interactions?
H. David Politzer
Phys. Rev. Lett. 30, 1346 (1973)

Editorial: Helpful Reviews

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000

We recently stated here that peer review is a source of great strength for APS journals, but did not discuss why. What are the elements of a helpful report? Who benefits from such a report, and how?

Milestone Letter: Interpretation of Recent Results on He³ below 3 mK: A New Liquid Phase?

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 2003

Interpretation of Recent Results on He³ below 3 mK: A New Liquid Phase?
A. J. Leggett
Phys. Rev. Lett. 29, 1227 (1972)

Milestone Letter: Eight-Vertex Model in Lattice Statistics

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Eight-Vertex Model in Lattice Statistics
R. J. Baxter
Phys. Rev. Lett. 26, 832 (1971)

Milestone Letter: Acceleration and Trapping of Particles by Radiation Pressure

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Acceleration and Trapping of Particles by Radiation Pressure
A. Ashkin
Phys. Rev. Lett. 24, 156 (1970)

Milestone Letters: High-Energy Inelastic Electron-Proton Scattering

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 1990

High-Energy Inelastic e-p Scattering at 6° and 10°
E. D. Bloom, D. H. Coward, H. DeStaebler, J. Drees, G. Miller, L. W. Mo, R. E. Taylor, M. Breidenbach, J. I. Friedman, G. C. Hartmann, and H. W. Kendall
Phys. Rev. Lett. 23, 930 (1969)

Observed Behavior of Highly Inelastic Electron-Proton Scattering
M. Breidenbach, J. I. Friedman, H. W. Kendall, E. D. Bloom, D. H. Coward, H. DeStaebler, J. Drees, L. W. Mo, and R. E. Taylor
Phys. Rev. Lett. 23, 935 (1969)

Milestone Letter: Search for Neutrinos from the Sun

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 2002

Search for Neutrinos from the Sun
Raymond Davis, Don S. Harmer, and Kenneth C. Hoffman
Phys. Rev. Lett. 20, 1205 (1968)

Present Status of the Theoretical Predictions for the ³⁷Cl Solar-Neutrino Experiment^*
John N. Bahcall, Neta A. Bahcall, and Giora Shaviv
Phys. Rev. Lett. 20, 1209 (1968)

Editorial: Successful Letters

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Physicists borrowed the word "quark" from Finnegans Wake, but James Joyce had no obvious connection to physics. However, all scientists, including physicists, must know how to write.

Milestone Letter: A Model of Leptons

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 1979

A Model of Leptons
Steven Weinberg
Phys. Rev. Lett. 19, 1264 (1967)

Milestone Letter: Absence of Ferromagnetism or Antiferromagnetism in One- or Two-Dimensional Isotropic Heisenberg Models

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Absence of Ferromagnetism or Antiferromagnetism in One- or Two-Dimensional Isotropic Heisenberg Models
N. D. Mermin and H. Wagner
Phys. Rev. Lett. 17, 1133 (1966)

Milestone Letter: Interaction of "Solitons" in a Collisionless Plasma and the Recurrence of Initial States

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Interaction of "Solitons" in a Collisionless Plasma and the Recurrence of Initial States
N. J. Zabusky and M. D. Kruskal
Phys. Rev. Lett. 15, 240 (1965)

Essay: The Tau Lepton and Thirty Years of Changes in Elementary Particle Physics Research

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Starting with the 1975 discovery of the tau lepton, I look back on the last three decades of change in the substance and style of experimental and theoretical research in elementary particle physics. I recount the major accomplishments of those decades and predict a bright future for particle physics in the next two decades. Turning to three problems, I lament the change in theoretical style and taste, I discuss the growth in the complexity, size, and cost of particle physics experiments, and I conclude with a pessimistic comment on the size of particle physics collaborations.

Milestone Letter: Generating masses via symmetry breaking

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Broken Symmetry and the Mass of Gauge Vector Mesons
F. Englert and R. Brout
Phys. Rev. Lett. 13, 321 (1964)

Broken Symmetries and the Masses of Gauge Bosons
Peter W. Higgs
Phys. Rev. Lett. 13, 508 (1964)

Global Conservation Laws and Massless Particles
G. S. Guralnik, C. R. Hagen, and T. W. Kibble
Phys. Rev. Lett. 13, 585 (1964)

Milestone Letter: Gravitational Field of a Spinning Mass as an Example of Algebraically Special Metrics

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Gravitational Field of a Spinning Mass as an Example of Algebraically Special Metrics
Roy P. Kerr
Phys. Rev. Lett. 11, 237 (1963)

Milestone Letter: Coherent Light Emission From GaAs Junctions

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Coherent Light Emission from GaAs Junctions
R. N. Hall, G. E. Fenner, J. D. Kingsley, T. J. Soltys, and R. O. Carlson
Phys. Rev. Lett. 9, 366 (1962)

Editorial: Peer Review per Physical Review

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000

We editors often say, and also often hear, that the great strength of Physical Review and Physical Review Letters lies in the extensive peer review that submitted manuscripts receive. This widely held view is a natural topic for our discussion surrounding the 50th anniversary of PRL.

Milestone Letter: Quantized Flux in Superconducting Cylinders

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Experimental Evidence for Quantized Flux in Superconducting Cylinders
Bascom S. Deaver and William M. Fairbank
Phys. Rev. Lett. 7, 43 (1961)

Theoretical Considerations Concerning Quantized Magnetic Flux In Superconducting Cylinders
N. Byers and C. N. Yang
Phys. Rev. Lett. 7, 46 (1961)

Milestone Letter: Ivar Giaever's Nobel Prize papers

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 1973

Energy Gap in Superconductors Measured by Electron Tunneling
Ivar Giaever
Phys. Rev. Lett. 5, 147 (1960)

Electron Tunneling Between Two Superconductors
Ivar Giaever
Phys. Rev. Lett. 5, 464 (1960)

Essay: Physical Review Letters; Sam Goudsmit’s Vision

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Sam Goudsmit implemented his vision of converting the Letters section of Physical Review into a distinct journal fifty years ago. Physical Review Letters was designed to publish “only papers that really deserve rapid communication.” The new journal became so successful with physicists throughout the world that Physical Review Letters now publishes 3500 Letters per year.

Milestone Letter: Calculation of Partition Functions

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Calculation of Partition Functions
J. Hubbard
Phys. Rev. Lett. 3, 77 (1959)

Editorial: Physical Review Letters at 50

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0000

During the course of the 50th year we will publish a series of Editorials on issues facing the journals as well as on scientific publishing. The first Editorial is more of an introduction to features and events we are planning for the year, and which we will announce frequently on this web site.

Milestone Letter: Two-Fluid Model of Superconductivity

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Two-Fluid Model of Superconductivity
John Bardeen
Phys. Rev. Lett. 1, 399 (1958)