Related papers: The Phase Diagram of Strongly-Interacting Matter
In these lectures we discuss the uses of effective field theory in studying dense hadronic matter. We focus on two regimes in the phase diagram. At low baryon density nucleons can be described as non-relativistic point particles interacting…
As the density of matter increases, atomic nuclei disintegrate into nucleons and, eventually, the nucleons themselves disintegrate into quarks. The phase transitions (PT's) between these phases can vary from steep first order to smooth…
An elementary introduction to the physics of quark-gluon plasma is given. We start with a sketchy presentation of the Quantum Chromodynamics which is the fundamental theory of strong interactions. The structure of hadrons built up of quarks…
Under extreme conditions of temperature and/or density, quarks and gluons are expected to undergo a deconfinement phase transition. While this is an ephemeral phenomenon at the ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collider (BNL-RHIC), quark matter…
Phase transition from hadronic matter to quark-gluon matter is discussed for various regimes of temperature and baryon number density. For small and medium densities, the phase transition is accurately described in the framework of the…
Fluctuations provide a powerful tool for elucidating the nature of strongly-interacting matter in the QCD phase diagram. In heavy-ion-collision systems, the net-particle number fluctuations are captured at the moment of chemical freeze-out.…
We present an overview of selected aspects of ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions, a research program devoted to the study of strongly interacting matter at high energy densities and in particular to the characterization of the…
We review theoretical approaches to explore the phase diagram of nuclear and quark matter at high baryon density. We first look over the basic properties of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and address how to describe various states of QCD…
The study of neutron stars is a topic of central interest in the investigation of the properties of strongly compressed hadronic matter. Whereas in heavy-ion collisions the fireball, created in the collision zone, contains very hot matter,…
When quarks and gluons are led to form a dense medium, like in high energy or/and heavy-ion collisions, it is interesting to ask the question which are the relevant degrees of freedom that Quantum Chromodynamics predict. The present notes…
Matter described by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), the theory of strong interactions, may undergo phase transitions when its temperature and the chemical potentials are varied. QCD at finite temperature is studied in the laboratory by…
We consider strong interactions at finite density in mean field theory, through an effective lagrangian that can describe both nuclear matter and quark matter. This lagrangian has three couplings that are all fixed by experiment and no…
We discuss how the dynamics of the evolving hot fireball of quark--gluon matter impacts phase transition between the deconfined and confined state of matter. The rapid expansion of the fireball of deconfined matter created in heavy ion…
It has been theorized that if heavy nuclei (e.g. Au, Pb) are collided at sufficiently high energies, we might be to recreate the conditions that existed in the universe a few microseconds after the Big Bang. The kinetic energy of the…
We study the dynamics of first-order phase transition in the early Universe when it was $10-50 \mu s$ old with quarks and gluons condensing into hadrons. We look at how the Universe evolved through the phase transition in small as well as…
This review will be concerned with our knowledge of extended matter under the governance of strong interaction, in short: QCD matter. Strictly speaking, the hadrons are representing the first layer of extended QCD architecture. In fact we…
Collisions of heavy nuclei at very high energies offer the exciting possibility of experimentally exploring the phase transformation from hadronic to partonic degrees of freedom which is predicted to occur at several times normal nuclear…
The presence of quark matter in neutron stars may affect several neutron star observables and the neutrino signal in core-collapse supernovae. These observables are sensitive to the phase of quark matter that is present in compact objects.…
In the past few years a wealth of high quality data has made possible to test current theoretical ideas about the properties of hadrons subject to extreme conditions of density and temperature. The relativistic heavy-ion program carried out…
Recent developments in neutron star theory and observation are discussed. Based on modern nucleon-nucleon potentials more reliable equations of state for dense nuclear matter have been constructed. Furthermore, phase transitions such as…