Calendar: 1964-1965 Page 350

Annual Report Iv cal techniques have opened new and fruitful fields of research Funda- mental studies of the optical and dielectric parameters of crystals used as base material in 'lasers' have covered the spectral range from the far infra-red to the extreme ultra-violet In the gas phase experimental and theoretical work on the ionisation and dissociation energies of molecules and radicals has led to the construction of molecular periodic tables for these quantities and given new insight into the mechanism of chemical binding Professor Champion's group has had fruitful year in its re- search on the electronic properties of diamond and uranium oxide Important progress in the interpretation of the band structures of these materials has been made and new methods of analysis by neutron acti- vation have been developed The theoretical group under Professor Domb has expanded steadily Substantial progress has been made in studying the configurational properties of polymers in cluster size and in percolation problems There has been considerable development of computer techniques to deal with enumeration problems on crystals This has appreciably ex- tended the range of application of the work The atmospherics group under Dr Chapman has set up new sub-station in Jersey with the kind co-operation of the Channel Island authorities This makes possible programme of two-station work on propagation in the ionosphere It should also lead to an alle- viation of some of the interference problems encountered in the London area The group is preparing to participate in the United Kingdom programme during International Quiet Sun Years 1964-65 Dr Burge's group has been working on the theory and measure- ment of the slit scattering of 50-MeV protons and on the design of an array of semi-conducting counters for use with new double-focusing magnetic spectrometer at the National Institute for Research in Nu- clear Science Measurements of the polarisation in proton-helium scattering have been made Conferences Visits Lectures etc The spectroscopy group presented four papers at the seventh European Congress on Molecular Spectro- scopy in Budapest Professor Price Dr Wilkinson and Dr Sherman gave special lectures to the Faraday Society the Spectroscopy and Optical Groups of the Physical Society and the High Pressure Con- ference Albany Dr Wilkinson also lectured on topics con- nected with the infra-red spectroscopy at Cambridge Harwell Oak