Astrophysics and particle physics in space with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is a high energy particle physics experiment in space scheduled to be installed on the International Space Station (ISS) by 2006 for a three-year mission. After a precursor flight of a prototype detector on board of the NASA Space Shuttle in June 1998, the construction of the detector in its final configuration is started and it will be completed by 2004. The purpose of this experiment is to provide a high statistics measurement of charged particles and nuclei in rigidity range 0.5 GV to few TV and to explore the high-energy (>1 GeV) gamma-ray sky. In this paper we describe the detector layout and present an overview of the main scientific goals both in the domain of astrophysics: cosmic- ray origin, age and propagation and the exploration of the most energetic gamma-ray sources; and in the domain of astroparticle: the antimatter and the dark matter searches. (53 refs).