QED in heavy few-electron ions

The influence of quantum electrodynamics in heavy ions is demonstrated. The contributions to the Lamb shift in hydrogen-like uranium are outlined, and quantum electrodynamical corrections to the radiative electron capture (RE C) are investigated in the region of highly relativistic projectile energie s by modifying the wave functions according to the Uehling potential. Exact relativistic calculations are employed for the radiative recombination. Th e deviation from non-QED calculations is found to amount to up to 2% in U92 + for a projectile energy of 10 GeV/u and forward emission angles of the em itted photon, (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.