The Horn, Kink and Step, Dale: from few GeV to few TeV

Understand

Rich experimental data have been collected in heavy-ion collisions at high energies to study the properties of strongly interacting matter.

• As the theory of strong interactions, QCD, predicts asymptotic freedom, the created matter at sufficiently high temperature and density will be dominated by a state of quasi-free quarks and gluons referred to as the Quark-Qluon Plasma (QGP).
• Experimental signals for the onset of the QGP creation (the onset of the deconfinement) have been predicted within the statistical model for the early stage of nucleus-nucleus collisions.
• In this model the existence of two different phases is assumed: confined mater and the QGP, as well as a first order phase transition between them.