Schottky mass- and lifetime-spectrometry of unstable, stored ions

GSI is presently the only facility where unstable, highly charged ions far from stability can be produced by in-flight fragmentation and subsequently stored and cooled in an ion storage ring. The mass-to-charge ratio of those stored ions is measured by two complementary methods that have been developed at GSI: Schottky mass-spectrometry, based on the recording of the revolution frequencies of electron-cooled ions, and isochronous mass-spectrometry, applied on short-lived, uncooled ions at the 'transition energy'. Both methods provide a highly efficient, precise and sensitive determination of the nuclear mass of many simultaneously stored ion species. Similarly, the β lifetimes of stored, unstable nuclei can also be determined. The impact of nuclear masses and lifetimes for both nuclear physics and astrophysics is also addressed