The vapor-compression refrigeration systems have been one of the essential energy conversion systems for humankind and exhausting huge amounts of energy nowadays. Surrounding the energy efficiency promotion of the systems, there are lots of effectual optimization methods but mainly relied on engineering experience and computer simulations rather than theoretical analysis due to the complex and vague physical essence. We attempt to propose a theoretical global optimization method based on in-depth physical analysis for the involved physical processes, i.e. heat transfer analysis for condenser and evaporator, through introducing the entransy theory and thermodynamic analysis for compressor and expansion valve. The integration of heat transfer and thermodynamic analyses forms the overall physical optimization model for the systems to describe the relation between all the unknown parameters and known conditions, which makes theoretical global optimization possible. With the aid of the mathematical conditional extremum solutions, an optimization equation group and the optimal configuration of all the unknown parameters are analytically obtained. Eventually, via the optimization of a typical vapor-compression refrigeration system with various working conditions to minimize the total heat transfer area of heat exchangers, the validity and superior of the newly proposed optimization method is proved. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.