physics

Physical Review A

Physical Review A is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Physical Review A rather than just read about it. In short: 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. As of 2021 the editor was Jan M.

Key takeaways

Physical Review A belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Physical Review A to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Physical Review A from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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. As of 2021 the editor was Jan M. Rost (Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems).

History 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.

Rapid Communications 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 the requirement for significance in Rapid articles more explicit. 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, to give them more visibility.

Editors' Suggestions In August 2013, Physical Review A started marking a few papers published in the journal that the editors found to be of particular interest, importance, or clarity as Editors' Suggestions to give them higher visibility.

Abstracting and indexing As of 2020 Physical Review journals were abstracted and indexed in:

Chemical Abstracts Service/CASSI Inspec Clarivate Web of Science Google Scholar INSPIRE-HEP NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) PubMed Scopus According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal had an impact factor of 3 in 2025.

References

External links Official website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Physical Review A

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Physical Review A claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Physical Review A before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Physical Review A ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Physical Review A

In research: Physical Review A appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Physical Review A in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Physical Review A is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Academic journals established in 1970, American Physical Society academic journals, English-language journals, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Physical Review A outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Physical Review A in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Physical Review A means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Physical Review A out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Physical Review A in simple terms?

Why does Physical Review A matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Physical Review A?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Physical Review A.