This Collection offers an early glimpse into how artificial intelligence and machine learning can further unlock the potential of density functional theory, a highly successful computational method with broad applications.

The ability to generate ultrashort laser pulses of some-ten-attosecond duration has given rise to a new research field, attosecond science, to whose development this Collection is dedicated. The potential of attosecond science has recently been recognized by the Wolf Foundation (Wolf Prize 2022) as well as the Nobel Committee (Nobel Prize in Physics 2023), who honored Pierre Agostini, Paul Corkum, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier for their pioneering work shaping the field.

The editors from Physical Review Letters, Physical Review X, Physical Review A, and Physical Review Applied have curated a short list of notable recent optics papers published in our journals. This compilation not only highlights research in our core publication areas, but also showcases select interdisciplinary and applied studies, illustrating the kind of submissions we encourage beyond the traditional or perceived scope of the Physical Review journals.

The collection contains papers that have made important contributions to atomic, molecular, and optical physics and quantum information by announcing significant discoveries or by initiating new areas of research.

The editors of the Physical Review journals revisit papers that represent important breakthroughs in the field of optics.