The wide ranging interest in the development of heavy ion synchrotrons with electron beam cooling is evident from the number of projects presently under way. Although much of the initial motivation for these rings stemmed from nuclear and particle physics, a considerable amount of atomic physics experimentation is planned. This paper surveys some of the new opportunities in atomic physics which may be made available with storage ring systems. 25 refs., 3 tabs.

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 workshop program included (1) atomic physics with stored cooled heavy ion beams, (2) ion-atom collisions and (3) electron-multicharged ion interactions. 21 papers were cataloged separately. (WRF).

It is arguable that most of chemistry and a large portion of atomic physics is concemed with the behaviour of the 92 naturally occurring elements in each of 3 charge states (+1, 0, -1); 276 distinct species. The world of multiply and highly charged ions provides a further 4186 species for us to study. Over 15 times as many! It is the nature of human beings to explore the unknown. This nature is par ticularly strong in physicists although this may not be readily apparent because theses explorations are undertaken in somewhat abstract 'spaces'. It is, then, no surprise that we have begun to explore the realm of multiply and highly charged ions. Over the past few decades, a consistent1y high quality body of work has emerged as the fruits of this exploration. This intemationally based subject, pursued in universities and research laboratories worldwide, has ex panded beyond its roots in atomic physics. We now see it embracing elements of surface science, nuclear physics and plasma physics as well as drawing on a wide range of technologies. This speciality offers new tests of some of our most fundamental ideas in physics and simultaneously new medical cures, new ways of fabricating electronic gadgets, a major hope for clean sustainable energy and explanations for astrophysical phenomena. It is both a deeply fundamental and a widely applicable area of investigation.

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.