Physics:Reviews of Modern Physics
| |Subject |Discipline}} | Physics |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Edited by | Sujit Datta |
| Publication details | |
| History | 1929–present |
| Publisher | |
| Frequency | Quarterly |
| 44.1 (2022) | |
| Standard abbreviations | |
| ISO 4 | Rev. Mod. Phys. |
| MathSciNet | Rev. Modern Phys. |
| Indexing | |
| CODEN | RMPHAT |
| ISSN | 0034-6861 (print) 1539-0756 (web) |
| LCCN | 31021290 |
| OCLC no. | 5975699 |
| Links | |
Reviews of Modern Physics (often abbreviated RMP) is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Physical Society. Established in 1929,[1] the journal publishes review articles, usually by established researchers, on all aspects of physics and related fields. It is one of the most prestigious journals of its kind today.[2] Its intended readers include not just professional physicists, but also university students, university and high-school instructors, as well as scientifically literate members of the general public.[2] The RMP occasionally publishes articles concerning topics that are also of interest to people outside of physics, such as the safety of light-water nuclear reactors, the feasibility of the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars), and the nature of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecule.[3]
Over the years, the editors of the journal included John Torrence Tate (1929–41, 1947), who worked on antisubmarine warfare during the Second World War; Samuel Goudsmit (1951–57), co-discover of quantum spin; and Edward Condon (1951–68), member of the Manhattan Engineer District.[3] Sujit Datta, a multidisciplinary scientist, is the current editor-in-chief.[4]
During the early years of the journal, the United States was supplanting Germany as the leading nation for physics, and English was becoming more common in scientific communications.[2] While review papers were nothing new, they were published only sporadically. The RMP was the first of its kind, fulfilling an unmet need among physicists. [2] At that time, the focus was on reviewing the research literature on largely established branches of physics. Fields in which there were controversies or unanswered questions were generally excluded.[3] By the 1950s and 1960s, however, the journal faced falling readership and the editorial board decided to expand the scope of the journal to include topics at the frontier of research.[3] Former editor Edward Condon was of the opinion that writing review articles should be part of the training of graduate students in physics and one of the responsibilities of physicists.[3]
Among the most cited papers in the Reviews of Modern Physics are three by Hans Bethe on nuclear physics (1936–7),[2] one my Enrico Fermi on quantum electrodynamics (1932), one by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar on stochastic processes in astronomy and physics (1943);[3] one by Howard Percy Robertson on relativistic cosmology (1931),[2] two by Clemens Roothaan on molecular orbitals (1951) and electronic systems (1960),[3] and one by Kurt Alder, Aage Bohr, Torben Huus, Ben Mottelson, and Aage Winther on nuclear structure (1956).[3] Some of the top papers in this journal were written by Nobel laureates.[3] Since the 1960s, multiple authorship has become more frequent.[3] Authors of the most cited papers were affiliated with Bell Laboratories; the University of Chicago; the Argonne National Laboratory, the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology); and the University of California at Berkeley, Irvine, and San Diego.[3] In the twenty-first century, the journal has published papers on quantum foundations,[5] as well as the development of the Standard Model of particle physics.[6][7]
References
- ↑ Starace, Anthony F. (February 2019). "The history of Reviews of Modern Physics" (in en). Physics Today 72 (2): 34–35. doi:10.1063/PT.3.4133. ISSN 0031-9228. Bibcode: 2019PhT....72b..34S.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Lalli, Roberto (October 14, 2014). "A new scientific journal takes the scene: The birth of Reviews of Modern Physics". Annalen der Physik 526 (9-10): A83-A87. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/andp.201400810.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Garfield, Eugene (June 17, 1988). "More than a mere physical attraction: The 100 most-cited papers from the Reviews of Modern Physics". Current Contents 11 (26): 3-14. http://garfield.library.upenn.edu/essays/v11p207y1988.pdf.
- ↑ Brockmeier, Erica K. (October 17, 2025). "Reviews of Modern Physics new chief editor is connecting fields". APS News (American Physical Society). https://www.aps.org/apsnews/2025/10/reviews-modern-editor-connecting-fields.
- ↑ DiVincenzo, David P.; Fuchs, Christopher A. (February 2019). "Quantum foundations" (in en). Physics Today 72 (2): 50–51. doi:10.1063/PT.3.4141. ISSN 0031-9228. Bibcode: 2019PhT....72b..50D.
- ↑ Gaillard, Mary K.; Langacker, Paul (February 2019). "Constructing the theory of the standard model" (in en). Physics Today 72 (2): 52–53. doi:10.1063/PT.3.4142. ISSN 0031-9228. Bibcode: 2019PhT....72b..52G.
- ↑ Grannis, Paul; Lüth, Vera (February 2019). "Experimental basis of the standard model" (in en). Physics Today 72 (2): 54–55. doi:10.1063/PT.3.4143. ISSN 0031-9228. Bibcode: 2019PhT....72b..54G.
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