Related papers: First results from the NA60 experiment at CERN
The CERN SuperProtoSynchrotron (SPS) represents an ideal facility for fixed-target heavy-ion experiments exploring the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter in the region $200\le\mu_{\rm B}\le500$ MeV. It can deliver high-intensity…
Charmonia suppression has been considered as a smoking gun signature of quark-gluon plasma. However, the Large Hadron Collider has observed a lower degree of suppression as compared to the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider energies, due to…
Observations by the PHENIX and STAR collaborations suggest that a strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma is produced in heavy-ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). After a brief introduction to heavy-ion physics,…
The heavy-ion programme at the CERN SPS, which started back in '86, has produced a wealth of very interesting and intriguing results in the quest for the quark-gluon plasma. The highlights of the programme on dilepton and direct photon…
NA61/SHINE is a multipurpose fixed-target experiment at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron. The main goals of the NA61/SHINE strong interaction program are to discover the critical point of strongly interacting matter as well as to study the…
The historical context of the recent results from high energy heavy ion reactions devoted to the search of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) is reviewed, with emphasis on the surprises encountered. The evidence for QGP from heavy ion reactions is…
Heavy-flavor observables are valuable probes of the quark-gluon plasma, which is expected to be produced in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. These experiments offer the unique opportunity to study strongly interacting matter at high…
The measurement of open charm meson production provides a tool for the investigation of the properties of the hot and dense matter created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at relativistic energies. In particular, charm mesons are of vivid…
The first decade of RHIC physics and the first heavy ion running at the LHC have produced a wealth of data and discoveries. It is timely to now evaluate what has been learned and ask what compelling new questions have been raised. In this…
The role of Strangeness as a signal of the Quark Gluon Plasma in relativistic heavy ion experiments is discussed. The current experimental status is briefly presented. Several scenarios which explain the CERN data are discussed.
This is a short survey of signatures and characteristics of the quark-gluon plasma in the light of experimental results that have been obtained over the past three decades. In particular, we present an in-depth discussion of the strangeness…
A new apparatus, NA60+, is proposed for measuring muon pairs in the center-of-mass region from 5 to 17 GeV at CERN SPS in various collisional systems from Pb+Pb and down to $p$+Be. The physics scope of the new detector will cover topics…
We explore the feasibility of direct measurements of nuclear gluon densities using heavy-quark production (open charm, beauty) at a future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). We focus on the regions x > 0.3 (EMC effect) and x ~ 0.05-0.1…
NA61/SHINE (SPS Heavy Ion and Neutrino Experiment) is a fixed target experiment located at the CERN SPS. Its strong interactions program is devoted to study properties of the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter. For this goal the…
The physics of heavy-ion collisions is one of the most exciting and challenging directions of science for the last four decades. On the theoretical side one deals with a non-abelian field theory, while on the experimental side today's…
This is a summary of experimental results on photons, leptons, and heavy quarks presented at Quark Matter 2008. A first measurement of the bottom to charm contribution to the lepton spectrum has given experimental indication for the…
Quarks of heavy flavors are useful tool to study quark-gluon plasma created in heavy-ion collisions. Due to their high mass and early production time, heavy quarks experience the entire evolution of the system created in these collisions.…
Heavy-ion experiments at the CERN SPS began in the mid-1980s to study nuclear matter at extreme temperatures and densities. The program started with light ions, such as oxygen and sulphur, at energies of 60A GeV and 200A GeV, later…
Over the past 30 years, jet observables have proven to provide important information about the quark-gluon plasma created in heavy-ion collisions. I review the challenges, results, and open problems of jet physics in heavy-ion collisions,…
This review presents a unified account of the NA35, NA49, and NA61/SHINE experiments, which together form a continuous programme of heavy-ion studies conducted at the H2 beamline of the CERN North Area using the SPS accelerator. The…