Unique channeling experiments with cooled relativistic heavy ions

The new accelerator facilities at GSI extend heavy-ion research to relativistic energies. The synchrotron SIS can accelerate all ions up to a maximum magnetic rigidity of 18 Tm corresponding to 1-2 GeV/u. The storage and cooler ring ESR opens the possibility for experiments requiring a high phase-space density, such as channeling in single crystals at high energies. The projectile fragment separator FRS can produce and separate radioactive beams allowing collision studies with unstable exotic projectiles. Unique channeling experiments with cooled heavy ions can be performed with the new facilities SIS, FRS, and ESR. (orig.)