Quantum Electrodynamics, strong electromagnetic fields, ion-matter interactions
Research with ion and antiproton beams has opened up new opportunities for many areas besides
hadron and nuclear physics. A field which especially benefited from the
availability of highly-charged heavy ions and antiprotons is atomic physics.
Atomic physics phenomena are generally very well understood in terms of
Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) - the theory of the
electromagnetic interaction. QED is regarded as one of most accurate
and best-confirmed theory in physics. The bulk of QED tests performed
so far addressed the regime of low and medium-strong fields. In
the area of very strong electromagnetic fields, there still exist
uncertainties concerning the precise QED formalism.
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Ultrastrong
electromagnetic fields occur in highly-charged heavy ions and can be
further increased in experiments with fast heavy ions passing each
other. The field strengths achieved in those experiments can well
exceed the critical value for spontaneous electron-positron creation out
of the vacuum. The new project will open up unique opportunities for
research in these areas of ultra-strong field physics and QED tests at
very high fields.
In hydrogen-like ions the electric field strength increases
with the nuclear charge. Experiments with highly-charged ions allow very precise measurements
of the quantum electrodynamic in strong electromagnetic fields. |
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