Status and perspectives of atomic physics research at GSI: The new GSI accelerator project

A short overview on the results of atomic physics research at the storage ring ESR is given followed by a presentation of the envisioned atomic physics program at the planned new GSI facility. The proposed new GSI facility will provide highest intensities of relativistic beams of both stable and unstable heavy nuclei - up to a Lorentz factor of 24. At those relativistic velocities, the energies of optical transitions, such as for lasers, are boosted into the X-ray region and the high-charge state ions generate electric and magnetic fields of exceptional strength. Together with high beam intensities a range of important experiments can be anticipated, for example electronic transitions in relativistic heavy-ion collisions such as dynamically induced e+e- pairs, test of quantum electrodynamics (QED) in strong fields, and ions and electrons in ultra-high intensity femtosecond laser fields