Overview of the German program on high energy density produced by heavy ion beams

Problems of heavy-ion inertial fusion are investigated in the framework of a basic research program pursued at several German research laboratories and universities. A two-ring accelerator facility is under construction at GSI which will provide high-brilliance heavy-ion beams in the beginning of 1990 and will enable the investigation of many key issues of heavy-ion inertial fusion in the fields of beam dynamics, beam-plasma interaction and the physics of dense plasmas. (orig.)