γ-Ray Spectroscopy of Relativistic Fragments: A Novel Technique

Abstract

During 1990 a new accelerator complex consisting of the heavy-ion synchrotron SIS and the experimental storage ring ESR came into operation at GSI. This facility provides beams of nearly relativistic velocities for ion masses up to uranium. After nearly one year of commissioning of the large-scale detector systems the physics programme has finally successfully taken off. This contribution addresses the relevance of near-relativistic heavy-ion beams to nuclear-structure studies and, in particular, on-line γ-ray spectroscopy. The production and storage of radioactive secondary beams with sufficient intensities at the SIS/ESR potentially gives access to a new field in the physics of nuclear structure and reaction dynamics. We will discuss the relevant physical and instrumental concepts, and finally present some preliminary results from our recent experimental work.