Plasma physics experiments at GSI

Experiments using high-energy/high-power lasers have being pursued for almost a decade at GSI. In the regime of ultra-intense lasers, the PHELIX (Petawatt High-Energy Laser for heavy-Ion experiments) system has reached the 20 TW level and first successful experiments have been done. In addition to the experiments on heavy-ion energy loss in laser produced plasmas, our research will focus on laser-assisted particle acceleration and the use of high-energy petawatt lasers (HEPW) for the diagnostics of dense plasmas which has raised great interest in the international community. The plasma physics group at GSI, based on experiments in France, the UK and the U.S., has contributed significantly to this field of research in recent years. Now, with the upcoming commissioning of different power levels of PHELIX our experimental activities can be performed at GSI. Due to the funding of a virtual institute by the Helmholtz Association, the opportunities for new experiments at GSI have grown significantly. The paper will give an overview of recent experimental results, show the link to the future GSI experimental program (including FAIR) and present the experiments that will be done at GSI for the years to come