23rd International Conference on High Pressure Science and Technology (AIRAPT-23)

Abstract

The 23rd AIRAPT International Conference on High Pressure Science and Technology was held at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, from 25–30 September 2011. This conference is part of the series of AIRAPT International Conferences which are held biennially. AIRAPT is an acronym for the French title which translates as ‘International Association for the Advancement of High Pressure Science and Technology’. This was the second time the AIRAPT Conference was organized in India. The first was held 20 years ago at the National Aeronautical Laboratory, Bangalore in 1991. The 23rd Conference covered many important topics in the area of both static and dynamic high pressures including theoretical and experimental investigations on the response of materials under high pressures, new developments using neutron and synchrotron sources, investigations on superconductivity under high pressure, studies of geophysical and planetary sciences, biosciences, and the synthesis of new materials. The conference program included Bridgman award lecture, Jemieson award lecture, seven plenary talks, 85 invited talks, 83 oral presentations and about 195 posters. In all there were 372 presentations. 285 scientists from 19 countries participated in the conference. The countries represented included Austria, Canada, China, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Nepal, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, Ukraine and USA. Many new developments were presented, for example, measurement techniques using the new generation synchrotron sources, more powerful neutron sources and much brighter laser sources; integration of gas-gun with synchrotron source; the achievement of multi-megabar pressures in shock-less dynamic compressions; and capabilities to synthesize centimeter size diamonds with better quality. All these developments have opened up new opportunities for understanding the physics of materials under high pressures. I would like to thank all those who have made valuable contributions to the success of the conference, which include the members of the AIRAPT executive committee, the International Advisory Committee and National Advisory Committee, the plenary speakers, invited speakers, the chairmen of various sessions, all the participants, and the authors of the papers in this volume. All the papers accepted for the proceedings have been reviewed by two independent referees. I am extremely thankful to all the anonymous referees, who have spent their valuable time to ensure the quality of the papers of this volume. I wish to express my gratitude to the members of the Local Organizing Committee for their help and hard work for the success of the conference. Finally, I convey my special thanks to Dr T C Kaushik and Dr K D Joshi, who worked tirelessly and enthusiastically towards making this conference a success. I am confident that this volume of the Conference proceedings will provide an excellent source of information on the current trends in the field of High Pressure Science and Technology. Satish C Gupta Conference Chairman 25–30 September 2011