Accelerator and target studies for heavy ion fusion at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung

The new Schwerionen-Synchrotron (SIS)/Experimenteller Speicher-Ring (ESR) heavy ion accelerator facility [Nucl. Instrum. Methods A 278, 7, 19 (1989)], built for basic atomic and nuclear physics at Darmstadt (Federal Republic of Germany), also provides unique possibilities to study rf accelerator and beam/target interaction physics for inertial confinement fusion driven with heavy ion beams. It is the first machine that offers this opportunity. Beam parameters and experiments planned over the next five years are discussed.