Decoding the phase structure of QCD via particle production at high energy

Understand

Recent studies based on non-perturbative lattice Monte-Carlo solutions of Quantum Chromodynamics, the theory of strong interactions, demonstrated that at high temperature there is a phase change from confined hadronic matter to a deconfined quark-gluon plasma where quarks and gluons can travel distances largely exceeding the size of hadrons.

• The phase structure of such strongly interacting matter can be decoded via analysis of particle abundances in high energy nuclear collisions within the framework of the statistical hadronization approach.
• The results imply quark-hadron duality at and experimental delineation of the location of the phase boundary of strongly interacting matter.