Atomic collisions involving pulsed positrons

Conventional slow positron beams have been widely and profitably used to st udy atomic collisions and have been instrumental in understanding the dynam ics of ionisation. The next generation of positron atomic collision studies are possible with the use of charged particle traps. Not only can large in stantaneous intensities be achieved with in-beam accumulation, but more imp ortantly many orders of magnitude improvement in energy and spatial resolut ion can be achieved using positron cooling. Atomic collisions can be studie d on a new energy scale with unprecedented precion and control. The use of accelerators for producing intense positron pulses will be discussed in the context of atomic physics experiments.