title: Essay: Fifty years of atomic, molecular and optical physics in Physical Review Letters.
abstract: The fiftieth anniversary of Physical Review Letters is a good opportunity to review the extraordinary progress of atomic, molecular, and optical physics reported in this journal during the past half-century. As both a witness and an actor of this story, I recall personal experiences and reflect about the past, present, and possible future of my field of research.
authors.affiliation: Collège de France.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haroche