Pedagogical content knowledge is central to teacher knowledge and a focal point of research in teacher education. In particular, pedagogical content knowledge in physics has emerged as a significant area in the international science education research community, attracting considerable scholarly attention in the 21st century. This study analysed, synthesized, and visualized the hot topics as well as frontier evolution of physics pedagogical content knowledge using CiteSpace and VOSviewer visualisation software and literature indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection between 2000 and 2023. Journal analysis, temporal distribution analysis, citation trends analysis, core authors analysis, co-occurrence analysis and cluster analysis were conducted based on 132 articles retrieved from Web of Science. The literature on physics PCK mainly covered seven hot topics: pre-service physics teachers, pedagogical content knowledge, science education, understanding energy, knowledge acquisition, classroom practice and coping strategies. The research on physics PCK can be divided into 5 phases: slow development period, slow progress period, disturbance period, burst period and steady-state period. The study can enhance the quality of research and education in physics pedagogical content knowledge.