Experiments with Stored Highly Charged Ions at the Border between Atomic and Nuclear Physics

Abstract

Atomic charge states can significantly influence nuclear decay rates. Presented is a compact overview of experiments conducted at the Experimental Storage Ring ESR of GSI addressing β-decay of stored and cooled highly charged ions. Investigations of the two-body beta decay, namely the bound-state β-decay and its time-mirrored counterpart, orbital electron-capture, are discussed in more details and a special emphasis is given to the future experiment on the bound-state β-decay of fully-ionized 205Tl81+ nuclei.