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

In 1990, a process was started to split this journal into two, resulting in the creation of Physical Review E in 1993.

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.

[7][8] 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.

[10] 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.