Differences between REVTeX v3.1 and LaTeX article style

1. The documentstyle is different. The main style is revtex, and aps is a mandatory style option for APS authors. Other style options are eqsecnum (to number equations by section), preprint (to get double-spaced output for submission purposes), tighten (to get single-spaced output with the preprint option), and amsfonts and amssymb (for extra font capabilities, see Sec. vii). There are also style options for each APS journal: pra, prb, prc, prd, pre, prl, and rmp for Physical Review A, B, C, D, E, Letters, and Reviews of Modern Physics respectively. pra is the default. The prb option gives superscript reference citations, as is the style for Physical Review B. Other than this, there are no substantial differences in the journal options. Please do not use the prb option unless you will be submitting to Physical Review B. The prl option yields a slightly different line spacing for accurate PRL length estimates. The floats style option enables LaTeX-style floating figures and tables---it is not for use with files to be submitted to the APS. Similarly, the twocolumn style option is for personal use, and not for use in submitted files.

2. The beginning of a file is different in REVTeX . The top of a typical paper might look like (cf. template.aps)

   \documentstyle[aps,pra]{revtex}
   \begin{document}
   \draft
   \title{Title here}
   \author{Author(s) here}
   \address{Address(es) here}
   \author{Another author(s) here}
   \address{Another address(es) here}
   \date{\today}
   \maketitle
   \begin{abstract}
   Abstract here.
   \end{abstract}
   \pacs{PACS numbers here}
   

   Note the \draft, \address{#1}, and \pacs{#1} commands. See Sec. vC for details.

3. Figures and tables are input the same as in LaTeX. Tables can be over 1 page long and will break automatically across pages. Figures and tables do not float unless you use the floats option. While floats can be re-enabled by use of the floats style option, you cannot use this for files that you submit to the APS; it is added for your personal use. Floating tables and figures will not break across pages. All tables expand to fill the column width.

4. The \text{#1} command will print #1 as regular text output in math. In particular, you will get hyphens instead of minus signs. Used in a superscript, you will get the correct size. See Sec.\ vG.

5. Using a \label{#1} after \begin{mathletters} will allow you to reference the general number of the equations in the mathletters environment. For example, if

   \begin{mathletters}
   \label{alleqs}  % observe location
   \begin{equation}
   E=mc^2,\label{eqa}
   \end{equation}
   \begin{equation}
   E=mc^2,\label{eqb}
   \end{equation}
   \begin{equation}
   E=mc^2,\label{eqc}
   \end{equation}
   \end{mathletters}
   

   gives the output

   
   

   ---

       

   
   

   ---

   then Eq.\ (\ref{alleqs}) gives ``Eq. (3)''.

6. When you use the \bf command in superscripts, you will get a correctly sized character.

7. There are commands \tablenote{#1}, \tablenotetext{#1}, and \tablenotemark{#1}. These commands work in direct analogy to the regular footnoting commands in LaTeX. They should be used only in tables, and the notes will come out at the bottom of the table in which they appear. See apssamp.tex for instructions and examples.

8. There is a new letter for specifying columns in tabular environments. Using d in a tabular specification will create a column centered on the decimal points of the entries. See Sec. vL for details; see apssamp.tex for examples.

9. Extra diacritics are available: \tensor (double-headed overarrow), \overdots (triple overdots), \overstar (star), \overcirc (circle), \loarrow (left-going overarrow), and \roarrow (right-going overarrow). They scale correctly in superscripts. See Appendix A for examples.

10. \case{#1}{#2} will give text-style fractions (smaller) in display-style math.

11. There are BIBTeX style files, prsty.bst, rmp.bst, that can be used to prepare bibliographies automatically, as explained in Lamport's book.

12. There is also a tool for authors that prepare their bibliographies by hand. It is called reftest.tex. It will check to make sure that you (1) have no uncited bibitems, (2) have no undefined citations, and (3) have your bibitems in the same order as your citations. These are all requirements in Physical Review style. See Sec.\ vJ.

13. The LaTeX command \extracolsep{#1} sets extra intercolumn spacing, but this extra spacing has already been set in REVTeX to allow the columns in the table to expand out to fill the text width. Therefore, \extracolsep{#1} will not work in REVTeX . Use the @{#1} command to specify spacing between two adjacent columns, for personal files. See Appendix C.9.2 of Lamport for a full explanation of @{#1}. An example has been given in apssamp.tex. Note that final journal table layout is set by production software.

14. We intend for REVTeX to be as compatible as possible with LaTeX, including features we (APS) do not require at this time, such as \twocolumn, floats, etc. You cannot use these for files that you submit to the APS; they are added for your personal use. Please let us know of any other incompatibilities.

15. You should be able to use either the OFSS or NFSS with these macros, with similar results (the NFSS may give you more fonts in some areas, depending what your setup is). We are only supporting the NFSS with oldlfont.sty active. Please let us know if you have any problems in this area. And don't worry if you don't know what the OFSS and NFSS are. (See Sec. vii if you are curious.)