Atomic physics at storage rings: recent results from the ESR and future perspectives at FAIR

At the Gesellschaft fuer Schwerionenforschung mbH (GSI), atomic physics research focusses on spectroscopy of simple atomic systems at high-Z, where both the structure as well as the dynamics are determined by extreme electromagnetic fields. The Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) enables us to store these ions for long periods of time, under ideal circumstances, and to perform high-precision experiments. By means of advanced laser, target, and detector technology, we are able to address the still largely unexplored physics of these simple but exotic systems. In this paper we present some important aspects of the current and future atomic physics program, and show recent results from the ESR. (author)