Physical Review Letters Celebrates 50 Years

Essay: The Future of Scientific Publishing

Mon, 11 May 2009 04:00:00 +0000

How can the scientific publishing enterprise deal with the increasing specialization of individual physicists? The possible aids include virtual journals, the new APS journal Physics, and the possibility of artificial intelligence programs.

Essay: Computers in the APS Editorial Office: The Early Years

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Today, essentially all of the American Physical Society’s publishing operations are electronic. The publication of record for a paper is now its posting on the web, not its appearance in print on a journal page. All communications among editors, referees, and authors are electronic, usually via the web. It must be conceded though that there are still situations in which paper is definitely to be preferred.

Editorial: Is PRL Too Large to Have an ‘‘Impact’’?

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Impact factors are a bit like television’s Nielsen ratings. You scrutinize them and take credit if you are a beneficiary, but they are a tad unsavory! Physicists ostensibly do not write to garner citations; they merely prefer to publish in journals with high impact factors.

Milestone Letters: Left-handed materials and perfect lenses

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Composite Medium with Simultaneously Negative Permeability and Permittivity
D. R. Smith, Willie J. Padilla, D. C. Vier, S. C. Nemat-Nasser, and S. Schultz
Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 4184 (2000)

Negative Refraction Makes a Perfect Lens
J. B. Pendry
Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3966 (2000)

Milestone Letters: Optical frequency combs

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 2005

Direct Link between Microwave and Optical Frequencies with a 300 THz Femtosecond Laser Comb
Scott A. Diddams, David J. Jones, Jun Ye, Steven T. Cundiff, John L. Hall, Jinendra K. Ranka, Robert S. Windeler, Ronald Holzwarth, Thomas Udem, and T. W. Hänsch
Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5102 (2000)

Phase Coherent Vacuum-Ultraviolet to Radio Frequency Comparison with a Mode-Locked Laser
J. Reichert, M. Niering, R. Holzwarth, M. Weitz, Th. Udem, and T. W. Hänsch
Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 3232 (2000)

Milestone Letter: Large Mass Hierarchy from a Small Extra Dimension

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Large Mass Hierarchy from a Small Extra Dimension
Lisa Randall and Raman Sundrum
Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 3370 (1999)

An Alternative to Compactification
Lisa Randall and Raman Sundrum
Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 4690 (1999)

Essay: American Physics, Policy, and Politics: An Uneasy Relationship

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0000

This essay deals with the unique influence that physics and physicists have had on U. S. federal policy since World War II. I identify some “lessons learned” from the last six decades and speculate about the future of U. S. physics and physicists as advisors to future presidents.

Milestone Letter: Evidence for Oscillation of Atmospheric Neutrinos

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 2002

Evidence for Oscillation of Atmospheric Neutrinos
Y. Fukuda et al. (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 1562 (1998)

Essay: Fifty Years of Condensed Matter Physics

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Since the birth of Physical Review Letters fifty years ago, condensed matter physics has seen considerable growth, and both the journal and the field have flourished during this period. In this essay, I begin with some general comments about condensed matter physics and then give some personal views on the conceptual development of the field and list some highlights. The focus is mostly on theoretical developments.

Milestone Letter: Nonequilibrium Equality for Free Energy Differences

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Nonequilibrium Equality for Free Energy Differences
C. Jarzynski
Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 2690 (1997)

Milestone Letter: Collective Excitations of a Bose-Einstein Condensate in a Dilute Gas

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 2001

Collective Excitations of a Bose-Einstein Condensate in a Dilute Gas
D. S. Jin, J. R. Ensher, M. R. Matthews, C. E. Wieman, and E. A. Cornell
Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 420 (1996)

Milestone Letter: Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Gas of Sodium Atoms

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 2001

Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Gas of Sodium Atoms
K. B. Davis, M.-O. Mewes, M. R. Andrews, N. J. van Druten, D. S. Durfee, D. M. Kurn, and W. Ketterle
Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 3969 (1995)

Essay: The Origin of Physical Review Letters

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0000

When Sam Goudsmit, then Editor of Physical Review, decided to publish the Letters separately, he asked me to become Assistant Editor of the new journal. I wound up staying at PRL for a quarter of a century. I describe some of the new techniques we developed to speed up review and production so that Letters could be quickly published.

Milestone Letters: Top Quark Discovery

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Evidence for top quark production in p p collisions at √s = 1.8 TeV
F. Abe et al. (CDF Collaboration)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 225 (1994)

Observation of Top Quark Production in p p Collisions with the Collider Detector at Fermilab
F. Abe et al. (CDF Collaboration)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 2626 (1995)

Observation of the Top Quark
S. Abachi et al. (D0 Collaboration)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 2632 (1995)

Milestone Letter: Teleporting an unknown quantum state via dual classical and Einstein- Podolsky-Rosen channels

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

Teleporting an unknown quantum state via dual classical and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen channels
Charles H. Bennett, Gilles Brassard, Claude Crépeau, Richard Jozsa, Asher Peres, and William K. Wootters
Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 1895 (1993)

Milestone Letter: Density Matrix Formulation for Quantum Renormalization Groups

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Density matrix formulation for quantum renormalization groups
Steven R. White
Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 2863 (1992)

Milestone Letters: Quantum Cryptography

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Quantum cryptography based on Bell’s theorem
Artur K. Ekert
Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 661 (1991)

Quantum cryptography without Bell’s theorem
Charles H. Bennett, Gilles Brassard, and N. David Mermin
Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 557 (1992)

Milestone Letter: 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics - Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 2008

Axial Vector Current Conservation in Weak Interactions
Yoichiro Nambu
Phys. Rev. Lett. 4, 380 (1960)

Milestone Letters: Chaos

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Synchronization in chaotic systems
Louis M. Pecora and Thomas L. Carroll
Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 821 (1990)

Controlling chaos
Edward Ott, Celso Grebogi, and James A. Yorke
Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 1196 (1990)

Essay: Fifty Years of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics in Physical Review Letters

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0000

The fiftieth anniversary of Physical Review Letters is a good opportunity to review the extraordinary progress of atomic, molecular, and optical physics reported in this journal during the past half-century. As both a witness and an actor of this story, I recall personal experiences and reflect about the past, present, and possible future of my field of research.

Milestone Letters: Photonic band structure: The face-centered-cubic case

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Photonic band structure: The face-centered-cubic case
E. Yablonovitch and T. J. Gmitter
Phys. Rev. Lett. 63, 1950 (1989)

Photonic band structure: The face-centered-cubic case employing nonspherical atoms
E. Yablonovitch, T. J. Gmitter, and K. M. Leung
Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 2295 (1991)

Milestone Letters: Giant Magnetoresistance

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 2007

Giant Magnetoresistance of (001)Fe/(001)Cr Magnetic Superlattices
M. N. Baibich, J. M. Broto, A. Fert, F. Nguyen Van Dau, F. Petroff, P. Etienne, G. Creuzet, A. Friederich, and J. Chazelas
Phys. Rev. Lett. 61, 2472 (1988)

Enhanced magnetoresistance in layered magnetic structures with antiferromagnetic interlayer exchange
G. Binasch, P. Grünberg, F. Saurenbach, and W. Zinn
Phys. Rev. B 39, 4828 (1989)

Milestone Letters: Laser Cooling

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 1997

Observation of Atoms Laser Cooled below the Doppler Limit
Paul D. Lett, Richard N. Watts, Christoph I. Westbrook, William D. Phillips, Phillip L. Gould, and Harold J. Metcalf
Phys. Rev. Lett. 61, 169 (1988)

Laser Cooling below the One-Photon Recoil Energy by Velocity-Selective Coherent Population Trapping
A. Aspect, E. Arimondo, R. Kaiser, N. Vansteenkiste, and C. Cohen-Tannoudji
Phys. Rev. Lett. 61, 826 (1988)

Milestone Letter: Superconductivity at 93 K in a new mixed-phase Y-Ba-Cu-O compound system at ambient pressure

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Superconductivity at 93 K in a new mixed-phase Y-Ba-Cu-O compound system at ambient pressure
M. K. Wu, J. R. Ashburn, C. J. Torng, P. H. Hor, R. L. Meng, L. Gao, Z. J. Huang, Y. Q. Wang, and C. W. Chu
Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 908 (1987)

Milestone Letters: Neutrino burst from the supernova SN1987A

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 2002

Observation of a neutrino burst from the supernova SN1987A
K. Hirata et al.
Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 1490 (1987)

Observation of a neutrino burst in coincidence with supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud
R. M. Bionta et al.
Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 1494 (1987)

Milestone Letter: Atomic Force Microscope

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Atomic Force Microscope
G. Binnig, C. F. Quate, and Ch. Gerber
Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 930 (1986)

Milestone Letter: Three-Dimensional Viscous Confinement and Cooling of Atoms by Resonance Radiation Pressure

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 1997

Three-dimensional viscous confinement and cooling of atoms by resonance radiation pressure
Steven Chu, L. Hollberg, J. E. Bjorkholm, Alex Cable, and A. Ashkin
Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 48 (1985)

Milestone Letter: Metallic Phase with Long-Range Orientational Order and No Translational Symmetry

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Metallic Phase with Long-Range Orientational Order and No Translational Symmetry
D. Shechtman, I. Blech, D. Gratias, and J. W. Cahn
Phys. Rev. Lett. 53, 1951 (1984)

Milestone Letter: Anomalous Quantum Hall Effect: An Incompressible Quantum Fluid with Fractionally Charged Excitations

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 1998

Anomalous Quantum Hall Effect: An Incompressible Quantum Fluid with Fractionally Charged Excitations
R. B. Laughlin
Phys. Rev. Lett. 50, 1395 (1983)

Essay: Reflections on Physical Review Letters

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

During my tenure as APS Editor-in-Chief Physical Review Letters changed from a journal whose authors were mostly from the U.S. to one whose authors were mostly from abroad. I encouraged authors to publicize their work even before their papers were accepted for publication. And I sought to raise the quality of the papers that were published even higher than before.

Milestone Letter: Surface Studies by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 1986

Surface Studies by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
G. Binnig, H. Rohrer, Ch. Gerber, and E. Weibel
Phys. Rev. Lett. 49, 57 (1982)

Milestone Letter: Two-Dimensional Magnetotransport in the Extreme Quantum Limit

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 1998

Two-Dimensional Magnetotransport in the Extreme Quantum Limit
D. C. Tsui, H. L. Stormer, and A. C. Gossard
Phys. Rev. Lett. 48, 1559 (1982)

Milestone Letters: Experimental Tests of Bell's Inequalities

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

Experimental Tests of Realistic Local Theories via Bell's Theorem
Alain Aspect, Philippe Grangier, and Gérard Roger
Phys. Rev. Lett. 47, 460 (1981)

Experimental Realization of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Bohm Gedankenexperiment: A New Violation of Bell's Inequalities
Alain Aspect, Philippe Grangier, and Gérard Roger
Phys. Rev. Lett. 49, 91 (1982)

Experimental Test of Bell's Inequalities Using Time-Varying Analyzers
Alain Aspect, Jean Dalibard, and Gérard Roger
Phys. Rev. Lett. 49, 1804 (1982)

Milestone Letter: New Method for High-Accuracy Determination of the Fine-Structure Constant Based on Quantized Hall Resistance

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

Nobel Prize in Physics - 1985

New Method for High-Accuracy Determination of the Fine-Structure Constant Based on Quantized Hall Resistance
K. von Klitzing, G. Dorda, and M. Pepper
Phys. Rev. Lett. 45, 494 (1980)

Milestone Letter: Scaling Theory of Localization: Absence of Quantum Diffusion in Two Dimensions

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

Scaling Theory of Localization: Absence of Quantum Diffusion in Two Dimensions
E. Abrahams, P. W. Anderson, D. C. Licciardello, and T. V. Ramakrishnan
Phys. Rev. Lett. 42, 673 (1979)

Milestone Letter: Theory of Two-Dimensional Melting

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Theory of Two-Dimensional Melting
B. I. Halperin and David R. Nelson
Phys. Rev. Lett. 41, 121 (1978)

Essay: Samuel Abraham Goudsmit (1902–1978)

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

When Sam Goudsmit was 23, he and George Uhlenbeck hypothesized that the electron had spin. Sam was a well-known atomic physicist working at the University of Michigan when World War II began. During the war he first worked on radar at the MIT Radiation Lab, and then in the waning days of the war in Europe he led a mission to determine how far the Nazis had gotten in developing an atomic bomb. After chairing the Physics Department at Brookhaven, in 1950 APS named Goudsmit Managing Editor of Physical Review and Reviews of Modern Physics; in 1966 he was named Editor-in-Chief. He founded Physical Review Letters in 1958.

Editorial: Changes in Publishing

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

I address advances in publishing methodology and technology from a personal perspective, via a brief account of my encounters with some of the changes that have taken place over the 50 years of PRL.

Milestone Letter: Detection of Anisotropy in the Cosmic Blackbody Radiation

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Detection of Anisotropy in the Cosmic Blackbody Radiation
G. F. Smoot, M. V. Gorenstein, and R. A. Muller
Phys. Rev. Lett. 39, 898 (1977)

Milestone Letter: Electrical Conductivity in Doped Polyacetylene

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Chemistry - 2000

Electrical Conductivity in Doped Polyacetylene
C. K. Chiang, C. R. Fincher, Y. W. Park, A. J. Heeger, H. Shirakawa, E. J. Louis, S. C. Gau, and Alan G. MacDiarmid
Phys. Rev. Lett. 39, 1098 (1977)

Milestone Letters: Free-Electron Laser

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Observation of Stimulated Emission of Radiation by Relativistic Electrons in a Spatially Periodic Transverse Magnetic Field
Luis R. Elias, William M. Fairbank, John M. J. Madey, H. Alan Schwettman, and Todd I. Smith
Phys. Rev. Lett. 36, 717 (1976)

First Operation of a Free-Electron Laser
D. A. G. Deacon, L. R. Elias, J. M. J. Madey, G. J. Ramian, H. A. Schwettman, and T. I. Smith
Phys. Rev. Lett. 38, 892 (1977)

Milestone Letter: Evidence for Anomalous Lepton Production in e⁺-e^- Annihilation

Mon, 19 May 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 1995

Evidence for Anomalous Lepton Production in e⁺-e^- Annihilation
M. L. Perl et al.
Phys. Rev. Lett. 35, 1489 (1975)

Milestone Letters: Discovery of the J/ψ

Mon, 12 May 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Nobel Prize in Physics - 1976

Experimental Observation of a Heavy Particle J
J. J. Aubert et al.
Phys. Rev. Lett. 33, 1404 (1974)

Discovery of a Narrow Resonance in e⁺e^- Annihilation
J.-E. Augustin et al.
Phys. Rev. Lett. 33, 1406 (1974)

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 Letters: Helium-3

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

Nobel Prize in Physics - 1996

Evidence for a New Phase of Solid He³
D. D. Osheroff, R. C. Richardson, and D. M. Lee
Phys. Rev. Lett. 28, 885 (1972)

New Magnetic Phenomena in Liquid He³ below 3 mK
D. D. Osheroff, W. J. Gully, R. C. Richardson, and D. M. Lee
Phys. Rev. Lett. 29, 920 (1972)

Milestone Letters: Critical Exponents

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

Critical Exponents in 3.99 Dimensions
Kenneth G. Wilson and Michael E. Fisher
Phys. Rev. Lett. 28, 240 (1972)

Feynman-Graph Expansion for Critical Exponents
Kenneth G. Wilson
Phys. Rev. Lett. 28, 548 (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: Evidence for the 2π decay of the Κ₂⁰ Meson

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

Nobel Prize in Physics - 1980

Evidence for the 2π decay of the Κ₂⁰ Meson
J. H. Christenson, J. W. Cronin, V. L. Fitch, and R. Turlay
Phys. Rev. Lett. 13, 138 (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: Photon Correlations

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

Nobel Prize in Physics - 2005

Photon Correlations
Roy J. Glauber
Phys. Rev. Lett. 10, 84 (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)

Milestone Letter: Evidence for X-Rays from Sources outside Solar System

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

Nobel Prize in Physics - 2002

Evidence for X Rays from Sources Outside the Solar System
Riccardo Giacconi, Herbert Gursky, Frank R. Paolini, and Bruno B. Rossi
Phys. Rev. Lett. 9, 439 (1962)

Milestone Letter: Observation of High-Energy Neutrino Reactions and the Existence of Two Kinds of Neutrinos

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

Nobel Prize in Physics - 1988

Observation of High-Energy Neutrino Reactions and the Existence of Two Kinds of Neutrinos
G. Danby, J-M. Gaillard, K. Goulianos, L. M. Lederman, N. Mistry, M. Schwartz, and J. Steinberger
Phys. Rev. Lett. 9, 36 (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: Generation of Optical Harmonics

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

Generation of Optical Harmonics
P. A. Franken, A. E. Hill, C. W. Peters, and G. Weinreich
Phys. Rev. Lett. 7, 118 (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)

Milestone Letter: Apparent Weight of Photons

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

Apparent Weight of Photons
R. V. Pound and G. A. Rebka
Phys. Rev. Lett. 4, 337 (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)

Milestone Letter: Lattice Vibrations in Silicon and Germanium

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

Lattice Vibrations in Silicon and Germanium
B. N. Brockhouse
Phys. Rev. Lett. 2, 256 (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)

Milestone Letter: Element No. 102

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

Element No. 102
A. Ghiorso, T. Sikkeland, J. R. Walton, and G. T. Seaborg
Phys. Rev. Lett. 1, 18 (1958)

Physical Review Letters Celebrates 50 Years

Essay: The Future of Scientific Publishing

Essay: Computers in the APS Editorial Office: The Early Years

Editorial: Is PRL Too Large to Have an ‘‘Impact’’?

Milestone Letters: Left-handed materials and perfect lenses

Milestone Letters: Optical frequency combs

Milestone Letter: Large Mass Hierarchy from a Small Extra Dimension

Essay: American Physics, Policy, and Politics: An Uneasy Relationship

Milestone Letter: Evidence for Oscillation of Atmospheric Neutrinos

Essay: Fifty Years of Condensed Matter Physics

Milestone Letter: Nonequilibrium Equality for Free Energy Differences

Milestone Letter: Collective Excitations of a Bose-Einstein Condensate in a Dilute Gas

Milestone Letter: Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Gas of Sodium Atoms

Essay: The Origin of Physical Review Letters

Milestone Letters: Top Quark Discovery

Milestone Letter: Teleporting an unknown quantum state via dual classical and Einstein- Podolsky-Rosen channels

Milestone Letter: Density Matrix Formulation for Quantum Renormalization Groups

Milestone Letters: Quantum Cryptography

Milestone Letter: 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics - Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

Milestone Letters: Chaos

Essay: Fifty Years of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics in Physical Review Letters

Milestone Letters: Photonic band structure: The face-centered-cubic case

Milestone Letters: Giant Magnetoresistance

Milestone Letters: Laser Cooling

Milestone Letter: Superconductivity at 93 K in a new mixed-phase Y-Ba-Cu-O compound system at ambient pressure

Milestone Letters: Neutrino burst from the supernova SN1987A

Milestone Letter: Atomic Force Microscope

Milestone Letter: Three-Dimensional Viscous Confinement and Cooling of Atoms by Resonance Radiation Pressure

Milestone Letter: Metallic Phase with Long-Range Orientational Order and No Translational Symmetry

Milestone Letter: Anomalous Quantum Hall Effect: An Incompressible Quantum Fluid with Fractionally Charged Excitations

Essay: Reflections on Physical Review Letters

Milestone Letter: Surface Studies by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Milestone Letter: Two-Dimensional Magnetotransport in the Extreme Quantum Limit

Milestone Letters: Experimental Tests of Bell's Inequalities

Milestone Letter: New Method for High-Accuracy Determination of the Fine-Structure Constant Based on Quantized Hall Resistance

Milestone Letter: Scaling Theory of Localization: Absence of Quantum Diffusion in Two Dimensions

Milestone Letter: Theory of Two-Dimensional Melting

Essay: Samuel Abraham Goudsmit (1902–1978)

Editorial: Changes in Publishing

Milestone Letter: Detection of Anisotropy in the Cosmic Blackbody Radiation

Milestone Letter: Electrical Conductivity in Doped Polyacetylene

Milestone Letters: Free-Electron Laser

Milestone Letter: Evidence for Anomalous Lepton Production in e+-e- Annihilation

Milestone Letters: Discovery of the J/ψ

Milestone Letters: Asymptotic Freedom

Editorial: Helpful Reviews

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

Milestone Letters: Helium-3

Milestone Letters: Critical Exponents

Milestone Letter: Eight-Vertex Model in Lattice Statistics

Milestone Letter: Acceleration and Trapping of Particles by Radiation Pressure

Milestone Letters: High-Energy Inelastic Electron-Proton Scattering

Milestone Letter: Search for Neutrinos from the Sun

Editorial: Successful Letters

Milestone Letter: A Model of Leptons

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

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

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

Milestone Letter: Generating masses via symmetry breaking

Milestone Letter: Evidence for the 2π decay of the Κ20 Meson

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

Milestone Letter: Photon Correlations

Milestone Letter: Coherent Light Emission From GaAs Junctions

Milestone Letter: Evidence for X-Rays from Sources outside Solar System

Milestone Letter: Observation of High-Energy Neutrino Reactions and the Existence of Two Kinds of Neutrinos

Editorial: Peer Review per Physical Review

Milestone Letter: Quantized Flux in Superconducting Cylinders

Milestone Letter: Generation of Optical Harmonics

Milestone Letter: Ivar Giaever's Nobel Prize papers

Milestone Letter: Apparent Weight of Photons

Essay: Physical Review Letters; Sam Goudsmit’s Vision

Milestone Letter: Calculation of Partition Functions

Milestone Letter: Lattice Vibrations in Silicon and Germanium

Editorial: Physical Review Letters at 50

Milestone Letter: Two-Fluid Model of Superconductivity

Milestone Letter: Element No. 102

Milestone Letter: Evidence for Anomalous Lepton Production in e⁺-e^- Annihilation

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

Milestone Letter: Evidence for the 2π decay of the Κ₂⁰ Meson