FLAIR – a facility for low-energy antiproton and ion research

In order to exploit the unique possibilities that will become available at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) at GSI in Darmstadt, a collaboration of about 50 institutes from 15 countries was formed to efficiently enable an innovative research program towards low-energy antimatter-physics. In the Facility for Low-energy Antiproton and Ion Research (FLAIR) antiprotons and heavy (radioactive) ions are slowed down from 30 MeV to energies as low as 20 keV by a magnetic low-energy storage ring (LSR) and an electrostatic ultra-low energy storage ring (USR) or are even brought to rest by a universal trap facility (HITRAP). In this paper, the facility and the research program covered are briefly described with some emphasis on the accelerator chain and the expected particle numbers.