Reviews of Modern Physics’ new chief editor is connecting fields

From studying quantum electronics as an undergraduate to running a lab that explores all things “squishy,” Sujit Datta’s career has landed him to unexpected fields.

“We don't limit ourselves to one community,” Datta says about his research group. “We try to address problems that we think are interesting, where we can say something new.”

As the new chief editor of Reviews of Modern Physics, Datta now brings that collaborative spirit to APS’ home for in-depth reviews — articles that provide essential context on research trends in physics and beyond.

APS News spoke with Datta, a professor of chemical engineering, bioengineering, and biophysics at the California Institute of Technology, about his background, the impact of expert-curated reviews on his career, and opportunities and challenges for the journal.

Tell us about your academic background. How did that experience lead to your current role?

I started college at the University of Pennsylvania wanting to do philosophy, but I took an engaging introductory physics class with Charlie Johnson and fell in love with physics. I joined Charlie's lab the summer after my freshman year, studying the quantum properties of graphene and carbon nanotubes, and I fell in love with research and the process of scientific discovery.

I went on to obtain my Ph.D. in physics at Harvard. I thought I would continue working on quantum-type things, but my advisor, Dave Weitz, exposed me to the exciting world of soft matter physics and I was hooked.

For my postdoc, I again wanted to learn something new. That was when the gut microbiome was starting to get attention, and I thought that ideas from physics could help make sense of that complex system. I joined a lab at Caltech that was starting a microbiome initiative, and that experience introduced me to biological physics.

I then joined Princeton as an assistant professor, where I spent seven wonderful years, got tenure, and was just recruited back to Caltech a year ago.

How do you describe your research “niche”? In other words, what sets your lab apart?

Part of my lab focuses on the physics of soft materials — complex fluids, gels, squishy things. The other part uses similar approaches to study biological systems, in particular bacteria, and how they self-assemble and do fascinating things as groups.

In terms of our niche, we try to bridge the gap between highly idealized studies in the lab and the messy manifestations of these systems in the real world. We develop experimental systems that can recapitulate complexities inherent in nature in systematic ways and probe dynamical processes in situ. We also integrate our work with theoretical and computational modeling to distill fundamental principles, which can help predict and control how soft and living systems behave in complex environments more generally.

What attracted you to the chief editor role?

RMP has played an outsized role in my career, and I think that's something that many physicists can say.

I can still remember two articles published by Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, one on the wetting of fluids and one on soft matter, which I read when I was moving to graduate school. Those articles helped set the foundation for how I think about such problems. Similarly, when I was going to my postdoc, I was influenced by a classic article by Hans Frauenfelder, Peter Wolynes, and Robert Austin that helped define what biological physics is.

And there are many more examples. RMP plays a unique role in establishing authoritative intellectual frameworks across physics. Having the chance to uphold that tradition and shape the journal’s direction was exciting to me, and I consider it a tremendous responsibility.

Do you see any parallels between your academic interest in making connections across different fields and the types of papers that RMP publishes?

Absolutely. One of the things that motivates me is to draw intellectual connections between different areas that help you see a problem in a new way. That’s what my lab does in our research, and I think that's a big part of what RMP does in the broader landscape of physics.

The best RMP articles are not just reviews of the literature — they synthesize different ideas into a coherent intellectual framework and draw unexpected connections between them.

What do you see as the biggest opportunities and challenges for the journal?

The opportunity is that there are so many interesting things that we want to make sure we're adequately covering, that we're continuing to establish these important intellectual frameworks that will help define subfields and the inquiry that people will draw on for decades.

The challenge is that we want to maintain the rigor of our articles — people read RMP articles because they're deep, authoritative, and rigorous — and at the same time, continue making sure that the journal is accessible and covering the entire physics community.

There's also a tremendous breadth to physics, and it continues to evolve. What is physics today is not what physics was 20 years ago, nor what physics will be 20 years from now. That breadth is both an opportunity and a challenge.

What do you see as this journal’s role in our current digital age, especially as tools like AI chatbots increase access to quick-hit answers?

Given the increased accessibility to quick answers, there is more than ever a need for these expert-curated, rigorous syntheses that define new areas or establish intellectual foundations. That's how I think RMP brings value to the community. It’s the place you go if you want to build a solid intellectual foundation.

What emerging research areas or publishing trends is your editorial team paying close attention to?

Quantum information science is one where we’re seeing an explosion, as is the intersection of machine learning and physics. There are exciting developments in precision cosmology, multi-messenger astrophysics, experimental high energy physics, fusion energy, and topological materials. Applications of physics to biological, climate, and engineering problems are also pushing the frontiers of the field.

My goal is to be responsive to the community, so that we're expanding our coverage to areas where there’s excitement and expanding our global reach. Physics is done by a global community, and we want to make sure that our authors, reviewers, and editorial board reflect the community of physicists today.

What keeps you busy outside of work?

Once upon a time, I was a competitive kickboxer, and while those days are in the past, I still take an active interest in fitness, running, and nutrition. I also have a 6-year-old girl; we explore Los Angeles a lot, and one of our favorite things to do is to go to art galleries and museums.

I also really like to cook — that’s where I let the chaos reign, so to speak. For me, in the kitchen, it’s all just messing around. My Ph.D. advisor used to say, “When in doubt, try it out.”

On that topic, there was this awesome RMP article on culinary fluid mechanics exploring the connection between physics and food. Physics is everywhere!