Over 200 people from 28 countries attended the conference

This summer saw the University of Bristol hold the 16th triennial International Conference on Positron Annihilation (ICPA-16) with attendance from over 200 people from 28 different countries. Bristol has a rich history in positron physics; Paul Dirac, who predicted the existence of the positron in 1928, lived here in his childhood and studied in Bristol as an undergraduate.

Current fields in which positrons are implemented range from astrophysics to high-energy physics, atomic and quantum physics, soft matter science, polymer science, thin films of technological importance, nanoscience, semiconductors and related device structures, radiation chemistry, medical imaging, atomic and electronic structure of metals and alloys, surface physics and chemistry.

New techniques are being trialled and old techniques are being updated and put to new uses.

Positrons are being used both in fundamental and applied research, all over the globe. ICPA-16 reflected this wide variety and presented an invaluable snapshot of the research in which positrons are currently involved.

During the conference there was a poster competition in which one of our postgraduate students, David Billington, won a poster prize for his poster entitled “The Fermi Surface of PdCrO2”.