--- name: physical-review-b description: Use when targeting Physical Review B (PRB) or deciding whether a condensed matter or materials physics manuscript fits this APS archival venue. Encodes the journal's fit, framing, method-and-evidence bar, house style, official-submission re-check, and desk-reject heuristics. --- # Physical Review B (physical-review-b) ## Journal positioning Physical Review B is the APS journal of record for condensed matter physics and materials physics — the highest-volume journal in the Physical Review family and the primary archival venue for the condensed-matter community worldwide. PRB covers the full breadth of the field, from strongly correlated electrons and topological phases to semiconductor physics, magnetic materials, superconductivity, nanoscale systems, and the electronic-structure and computational methods that underpin the field. Like all archival Physical Review journals, the bar is substantive, rigorous correctness and a real contribution within the subfield — not cross-subfield broad importance. The condensed-matter and materials physics communities worldwide use PRB as the primary literature of record. This skill is a **fit / venue-selection / re-framing** tool. It does not replace the journal's current official submission guidelines. Before submitting, re-check the live author instructions on the APS site and the Physical Review B submission system. ## When to trigger - The author is targeting PRB for a condensed matter or materials physics manuscript. - A result is being evaluated for PRB versus `physical-review-letters` (broader significance required), `physical-review-x` (high-impact OA), or `nature-physics` / `nature-materials` (Nature-family significance bar). - The author needs to distinguish PRB's archival culture from the selective Nature-family or PRL cultures. - A manuscript has been rejected from PRL, PRX, or a Nature journal and needs re-routing to the appropriate archival venue. ## Scope & topic fit - Electronic structure and band theory: DFT, GW, DMFT, and correlated electron methods applied to real materials or model systems. - Superconductivity: conventional and unconventional superconductors, theory and experiment, pair symmetry, vortex dynamics. - Topological materials: topological insulators, semimetals, Weyl/Dirac materials, topological superconductors, edge states — both theory and spectroscopic/transport experiment. - Strongly correlated systems: Mott insulators, heavy fermions, frustrated magnets, Kondo systems, quantum spin liquids. - Magnetism and spintronics: exchange interactions, spin-orbit coupling, magnon physics, spin transport, multiferroics. - Nanoscale and low-dimensional systems: 2D materials, quantum dots, quantum wires, mesoscopic transport, and surface/interface physics. - Semiconductor physics, optical properties, lattice dynamics, and phonon-mediated interactions. ## Method & evidence bar - PRB is archival: the bar is rigorous correctness and a substantive contribution to condensed-matter or materials physics, not cross-subfield broad importance or urgency. - Experimental papers require full characterization: sample quality documentation, measurement uncertainty analysis, control experiments, and reproducibility checks appropriate to the measurement type. - Theoretical and computational papers must specify the Hamiltonian, approximations, convergence criteria, and the regime of validity; results presented without complete methodological transparency are returned. - First-principles calculations must state functional choices (XC functional, U parameters, van der Waals correction, k-point and basis-set convergence) explicitly; numerical precision must be reported. - For topological classification or symmetry-based results, the space group, symmetry indicators, and computational tools should be documented. - Data and code availability expectations are evolving; re-check current APS policies for computational datasets and DFT/DMFT/ED code deposition. ## Structure & house style - PRB publishes both Letters (short, urgent results in condensed-matter or materials physics requiring rapid communication within the community) and full Articles; the author chooses based on the nature of the result. - Introductions in PRB are written for the condensed-matter and materials physics community and may assume subfield familiarity; cross-subfield framing is not required. - Supplemental Material carries extended derivations, additional datasets, and computational details; the main text should present the key results and physics. - Figures must clearly present spectra, band structures, phase diagrams, or transport data with complete axis labeling, units, and error bars; community standards for condensed-matter data presentation are well established. - Reference coverage within the condensed-matter literature must be thorough; PRB reviewers will flag missing seminal or closely related work. ## Official-submission checklist - Before giving submission-ready advice, read `../../resources/source-basis.md` and `../../resources/official-source-map.md`; start from the official source anchors for this journal family, then cite the current journal-specific page you checked. - Search the live site for "Physical Review B author guidelines" and follow the current APS version. - Confirm article type (Letter vs. Article) and any format differences between the two. - Re-check APS data and code availability requirements; computational condensed-matter papers increasingly require code and input files. - Re-check the preprint policy; arXiv posting is the norm for this community (cond-mat, supr-con, mtrl-sci sections) and APS generally supports it. - Confirm figure and table formatting requirements and SI units conventions. - If the live official instructions conflict with this skill, the official instructions win. ## Pre-submission self-check - [ ] The result is a substantive, rigorous contribution to condensed matter or materials physics — correct, complete, and clearly situated in the existing PRB literature. - [ ] All computational parameters (functional, convergence, k-mesh, U values) or experimental conditions (sample synthesis, measurement geometry, temperature range) are fully stated. - [ ] The article type (Letter vs. Article) is appropriate; PRB Letters require urgency and a result deserving rapid community attention. - [ ] Supplemental Material and any code/data deposition are prepared. - [ ] arXiv posting is coordinated with co-authors. ## Common desk-reject triggers - A condensed-matter result submitted to PRB as a Letter that lacks the urgency or compactness for Letter format; editors redirect to Article or request resubmission. - Computational papers where key DFT parameters (functional, U, k-points) are omitted or where convergence is not demonstrated. - Experimental papers claiming a new phase or topological property without the spectroscopic, thermodynamic, or transport evidence required to support the claim in the condensed-matter community. - Results that are purely phenomenological curve-fitting without microscopic model or mechanism. - Manuscripts that are outside PRB scope (particle physics → `physical-review-d`; photonics-dominant result → `nature-photonics` or `physical-review-letters`). ## Re-routing decision If the result is Letter-quality with cross-subfield significance → `physical-review-letters`. For a cross-subfield, high-impact result needing fuller treatment → `physical-review-x`. For a conceptual materials advance with a strong structure-property narrative for a broad audience → `nature-materials`. For a broad physics narrative that non-specialists can follow → `nature-physics`. Quantum-information-focused condensed-matter results (e.g., topological qubits, many-body localization as a resource) may fit `prx-quantum`. ## Output format ```text [Fit] High / Medium / Low (one-line reason) [Target] Physical Review B [Topic tags] <2–3 closest topics> [Method/evidence] [Top risk] [Official items to re-check]
[Re-route suggestion] ```