This book is devoted to one of the most active domains of atomic physic- atomic physics of heavy positive ions. During the last 30 years, this terrain has attracted enormous attention from both experimentalists and theoreti cians. On the one hand, this interest is stimulated by rapid progress in the development of laboratory ion sources, storage rings, ion traps and methods for ion cooling. In many laboratories, a considerable number of complex and accurate experiments have been initiated, challenging new frontiers. Highly charged ions are used for investigations related to fundamental research and to more applied fields such as controlled nuclear fusion driven by heavy ions and its diagnostics, ion-surface interaction, physics of hollow atoms, x-ray lasers, x-ray spectroscopy, spectrometry of ions in storage rings and ion traps, biology, and medical therapy. On the other hand, the new technologies have stimulated elaborate theo retical investigations, especially in developing QED theory, relativistic many body techniques, plasma-kinetic modeling based on the Coulomb interactions of highly charged ions with photons and various atomic particles - electrons, atoms, molecules and ions. The idea of assembling this book matured while the editors were writ ing another book, X-Ray Radiation of Highly Charged Ions by H. F. Beyer, H. -J. Kluge and V. P. Shevelko (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 1997) covering a broad range of x-ray and other radiative phenomena central to atomic physics with heavy ions.

The progress in the physics of highly-ionized atoms since the last NATO sponsored ASI on this subject in 1982 has been enormous. New accelerator facilities capable of extending the range of highly-ionized ions to very high-Z have come on line or are about to be completed. We note particularly the GANIL accelerator in Caen, France, the Michigan State Superconducting Cyclotrons in East Lansing both of which are currently operating and the SIS Accelerator in Darmstadt, FRG which is scheduled to accelerate beam in late 1989. Progress i~ low-energy ion production has been equally dramatic. The Lawrence Livermore Lab EBIT device has produced neon-like gold and there has been continued improvement in ECR and EBIS sources. The scientific developments in this field have kept pace with the technical developments. New theoretical methods for evaluating relativistic and QED effects have made possible highly-precise calcula tions of energy levels in one-and two-electron ions at high-Z. The calculations are based on the MCDF method and the variational method and will be subject to rigorous experimental tests. On the experimental side, precision x-ray and UV measurements have probed the Lamb shift in the one and two electron ions up to Z=36 with increasing precision.

This book reviews the major progress made in the fields of atomic, molecular and optical physics in the last decade. It contains eleven chapters in which contributors have highlighted the major accomplishments made in a given subfield. Each chapter is not a comprehensive review, but rather a succinct survey of the most interesting developments achieved in recent years. This book contains information on many AMO subfields and can be used as a textbook for graduate students interested in entering AMO physics. It may also serve researchers who wish to familiarize themselves with other AMO subfields.

This volume contains the proceedings of the third Euroconference on Atomic Phys ics at Accelerators (APAC 2001), with the title Stored Particles and Fundamental Physics. It was held in Aarhus, Denmark, from September 8 to 13 at the Marselis Hotel located near the beach and the Marselis Woods outside Aarhus, but some of the activities took place at the Department of Physics, University of Aarhus. The conference was sponsored by the Commission of the European Union (Contract No. ERBFMMACT980469) and also by the Danish Research Foundation through ACAP (Aarhus Center for Atomic Physics). The meeting was focused on the application of storage rings for atomic physics, and there are two fairly small rings in Aarhus, ASTRID (Aarhus STorage Ring for Ions,Denmark) and ELISA (ELectrostatic Ion Storage ring, Aarhus). The research at these rings has contributed to the strong position of European Science in this field. Both rings are designed according to unique concepts. ASTRID is a dual purpose ring, which half the time stores electrons for the generation of low-energy synchrotron radiation. The storage of negative particles has also been a unique feature for the application of ASTRID as an ion storage ring.