The GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research () is a federally and state co-funded

heavy ion High-energy nuclear physics studies the behavior of nuclear matter in energy regimes typical of high-energy physics. The primary focus of this field is the study of heavy-ion collisions, as compared to lighter atoms in other particle accelerator ...

() research center in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

, Germany. It was founded in 1969 as the Society for Heavy Ion Research (), abbreviated GSI, to conduct research on and with heavy-ion accelerators. It is the only major user research center in the

State of Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

. The laboratory performs basic and applied research in physics and related natural science disciplines. Main fields of study include

plasma physics Plasma () is a state of matter characterized by the presence of a significant portion of charged particles in any combination of ions or electrons. It is the most abundant form of ordinary matter in the universe, mostly in stars (including th ...

atomic physics Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to the study of atomic structure and the interaction between atoms. It is primarily concerned wit ...

, nuclear structure and reactions research,

biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations ...

and medical research. The lab is a member of the

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres () is the largest scientific organisation in Germany. It is a union of 18 scientific-technical and biological-medical research centers. The official mission of the Association is "solving the g ...

Shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...

s are the

German Federal Government The Federal Government (, ; abbr. BReg) is the chief Executive (government), executive body of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany and exercises executive power at the Federal level (Germany), federal level. It consists of the Chancellor ...

(90%) and the

, Thuringia and

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

. As a member of the

Helmholtz Association The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres () is the largest scientific organisation in Germany. It is a union of 18 scientific-technical and biological-medical research centers. The official mission of the Association is "solving the g ...

, the current name was given to the facility on 7 October 2008 in order to bring it sharper national and international awareness. The GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research has strategic partnerships with the

Technische Universität Darmstadt The Technische Universität Darmstadt (official English name Technical University of Darmstadt, sometimes also referred to as Darmstadt University of Technology), commonly known as TU Darmstadt, is a research university in the city of Darmsta ...

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

and the

Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies The Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) is a private-public institution for basic theoretical research in various areas of science focusing on interdisciplinary research. It is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, at its own home at ...

Primary research

The chief tool is the heavy ion accelerator facility consisting of: * UNILAC, the Universal Linear Accelerator (energy of 2 – 11.4

MeV In physics, an electronvolt (symbol eV), also written electron-volt and electron volt, is the measure of an amount of kinetic energy gained by a single electron accelerating through an electric potential difference of one volt in vacuum. When us ...

per

nucleon In physics and chemistry, a nucleon is either a proton or a neutron, considered in its role as a component of an atomic nucleus. The number of nucleons in a nucleus defines the atom's mass number. Until the 1960s, nucleons were thought to be ele ...

) * SIS 18 (Schwer-Ionen-Synchrotron), the heavy-ion

synchrotron A synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator, descended from the cyclotron, in which the accelerating particle beam travels around a fixed closed-loop path. The strength of the magnetic field which bends the particle beam i ...

(0.010 – 2

GeV In physics, an electronvolt (symbol eV), also written electron-volt and electron volt, is the measure of an amount of kinetic energy gained by a single electron accelerating through an electric potential difference of one volt in vacuum. When us ...

/u) * ESR, the experimental storage ring (0.005 – 0.5 GeV/u) * FRS Fragment Separator. The UNILAC was commissioned in 1975; the SIS 18 and the ESR were added in 1990 boosting the ion acceleration from 10% of light speed to 90%. Elements discovered at GSI:

bohrium Bohrium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Bh and atomic number 107. It is named after Danish physicist Niels Bohr. As a synthetic element, it can be created in particle accelerators but is not found in nature. All known isotopes of ...

(1981),

meitnerium Meitnerium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Mt and atomic number 109. It is an extremely radioactive synthetic element (an element not found in nature, but can be created in a laboratory). The most stable known isotope, meitnerium ...

(1982),

hassium Hassium is a synthetic element, synthetic chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Hs and atomic number 108. It is highly radioactive: its most stable known isotopes have half-life, half-lives of about ten seconds. One of its isotopes, Hs ...

(1984),

darmstadtium Darmstadtium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Ds and atomic number 110. It is extremely radioactive: the most stable known isotope, darmstadtium-281, has a half-life of approximately 14 seconds. Darmstadtium was first created in No ...

(1994),

roentgenium Roentgenium () is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Rg and atomic number 111. It is extremely radioactive and can only be created in a laboratory. The most stable known isotope, roentgenium-282, has a half-life of 130 seconds, althoug ...

(1994), and

copernicium Copernicium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Cn and atomic number 112. Its known isotopes are extremely radioactive, and have only been created in a laboratory. The most stable known isotope, copernicium-285, has a half-life of ap ...

(1996). Elements confirmed at GSI:

nihonium Nihonium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Nh and atomic number 113. It is extremely radioactive: its most stable known isotope, nihonium-286, has a half-life of about 10 seconds. In the periodic table, nihonium is a transactini ...

(2012),

flerovium Flerovium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Fl and atomic number 114. It is an extremely radioactive, superheavy element, named after the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Du ...

(2009),

moscovium Moscovium is a synthetic element, synthetic chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Mc and atomic number 115. It was first synthesized in 2003 by a joint team of Russian and American scientists at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Resea ...

(2012),

livermorium Livermorium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Lv and atomic number 116. It is an extremely radioactive element that has only been created in a laboratory setting and has not been observed in nature. The element is named after the La ...

(2010), and

tennessine Tennessine is a synthetic element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Ts and atomic number 117. It has the second-highest atomic number and joint-highest atomic mass of all known elements and is the penultimate element of the Period 7 element, 7th ...

(2012).

Technological developments

Another important technology developed at the GSI is the use of heavy ion beams for cancer treatment (from 1997). Instead of using X-ray radiation, carbon ions are used to irradiate the patient. The technique allows tumors which are close to vital organs to be treated, which is not possible with X-rays. This is because the

Bragg peak The Bragg peak is a pronounced peak on the Bragg curve which plots the energy loss of ionizing radiation during its travel through matter. For protons, α-rays, and other ion rays, the peak occurs immediately before the particles come to rest. ...

of carbon ions is much sharper than the peak of X-ray photons. A facility based on this technology, called Heidelberger Ionenstrahl-Therapiezentrum (HIT), built at the University of Heidelberg Medical Center began treating patients in November 2009.

Facilities other than UNILAC and SIS-18

* Two high-energy

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

s, the nhelix (Nanosecond High Energy Laser for heavy Ion eXperiments) and the Phelix (Petawatt High Energy Laser for heavy Ion eXperiments). * A Large Area Neutron Detector (

LAND Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...

). * A FRagment Separator (FRS) – The GSI Fragment Separator or FRS is a facility built in 1990. It produces and separates different beams of (usually)

radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...

ion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

s. The process is made from a stable beam accelerated by UNILAC and then SIS impinging on a production target. From this, many fragments are produced. The secondary beam is produced by magnetic selection of the ions. * An Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) in which large numbers of highly charged

s can be stored for extended periods of time with energies of 0.005 – 0.5 GeV/u. This facility provides the means to make precise measurements of their

decay Decay may refer to: Science and technology * Bit decay, in computing * Decay time (fall time), in electronics * Distance decay, in geography * Software decay, in computing Biology * Decomposition of organic matter * Mitochondrial decay, in g ...

modes. The discovery of a mysterious new phenomenon is known as the GSI anomaly.

Future evolution

In the years to come, GSI will evolve to an international structure named ''FAIR'' for

Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research A facility is a place for doing something, or a place that facilitates an activity. Types of facility include: * A commercial or institutional building, such as a hotel, resort, school, office complex, sports arena, or convention center * Medi ...

: one new synchrotron (with respective magnetic rigidity 100 T⋅m), a ''Super-FRS'' and several new rings among which one that can be used for antimatter research. The major part of the facility will be commissioned in 2022; full operation is planned for 2025. The creation of FAIR was co-signed on 7 November 2007 by 10 countries: Finland, France, Germany, India, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom, and Poland. Representatives included

Annette Schavan Annette Schavan (; born 10 June 1955) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). She was the Federal Minister of Education and Research in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2005 to 2013, when she resigned foll ...

, the German federal minister of science and

Roland Koch Roland Koch (born 24 March 1958) is a German jurist and former conservative politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the 7th Minister President of Hesse from 7 April 1999, immediately becoming the 53rd President of the Bund ...

, the prime minister of the state of

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

References

External links