Challenges for Atomic Physics at the Future FAIR Facility
Prof. Dr. Thomas Stöhlker (GSI, Darmstadt)

The future international accelerator Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) has key features that offer a range of new and challenging opportunities for atomic physics and related fields. The proposed facility will provide the highest intensities for relativistic beams of both stable and unstable heavy nuclei, in combination with the strongest possible electromagnetic fields, thus allowing to extend atomic spectroscopy virtually up to the limits of atomic matter. Due to a tremendous improvement concerning intensity and energy, new fields will be opened in addition by the strongly enhanced production yields for unstable nuclei. The program for atomic physics with heavy ions can be associated mainly with three types of experimental studies: Energetic and relativistic heavy ions will be employed for a wide range of collision studies involving photons, electrons and atoms, and exploiting the large Doppler boost and the rapidly varying fields in those reactions. High-energy beams will be utilized for achieving high stages of ionization up to bare uranium nuclei. Experiments will focus on structure and collision studies for these ion species. This will also allow for fundamental atomic physics studies (e.g. test of the Standard Model) and in addition, by applying atomic physics methods, to determine nuclear quantities in a model-independent way.