This exhaustive survey is the result of a four year effort by many leading researchers in the field to produce both a readable introduction and a yardstick for the many upcoming experiments using heavy ion collisions to examine the properties of nuclear matter. The books falls naturally into five large parts, first examining the bulk properties of strongly interacting matter, including its equation of state and phase structure. Part II discusses elementary hadronic excitations of nuclear matter, Part III addresses the concepts and models regarding the space-time dynamics of nuclear collision experiments, Part IV collects the observables from past and current high-energy heavy-ion facilities in the context of the theoretical predictions specific to compressed baryonic matter. Part V finally gives a brief description of the experimental concepts. The book explicitly addresses everyone working or planning to enter the field of high-energy nuclear physics.

This volume presents an authoritative review of the physics of strongly and electroweakly interacting elementary particle matter in extreme conditions that prevailed in the very early Universe, and which are being recreated in high energy physics laboratories today. Exciting, high-quality experimental results from RHIC collider at Brookhaven, collected since summer 2000, suggest that strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma has indeed been produced. The study of these phenomena will form an important part of theoretical particle and nuclear physics for years to come.Based on the discussions of more than a hundred experts at the Strong and Electroweak Matter 2004 Meeting, this volume contains an up-to-date overview of present ideas on QCD matter: quark-gluon plasma in heavy ion collisions, phase structure, kinetics, thermalization and transport properties. Also discussed are topics related to the cosmology of the early Universe, dark matter, inflation and creation of particle-antiparticle asymmetries. Both analytic and numerical lattice Monte Carlo methods are emphasized.

This invaluable book is an extensive set of lecture notes on various aspects of non-perturbative quantum chromodynamics ? the fundamental theory of strong interaction on which nuclear and hadronic physics is based.The original edition of the book, written in the mid-1980's, had more of a review style. In the second edition the outline remains the same, but the text has been completely rewritten, and extended. Apart from the new developments over the years, this edition has benefited from several graduate courses which the author has taught at Stony Brook during the last decade. The text is now complemented by exercises and has a total of about 1000 references to major works, arranged by subject.Three major issues ? the structure of the QCD vacuum, the structure of hadrons, and the physics of hot/dense matter ? are addressed as physics problems. Therefore, when discussing any specific subject, the book attempts to incorporate (1) all the solid theoretical results, (2) experimental information, and (3) results of numerical (lattice) simulations, which are playing an increasing role in quantum field theory in general, and the development of QCD in particular.The QCD Vacuum, Hadrons and Superdense Matter takes the reader from the first encounter with the subject to the front line of research, as quickly as possible.

Annotation. Text reviews the major topics in Quark-Gluon Plasma, including: the QCD phase diagram, the transition temperature, equation of state, heavy quark free energies, and thermal modifications of hadron properties. Includes index, references, and appendix. For researchers and practitioners.

This 2002 monograph, now reissued as OA, explores the primordial state of hadronic matter called quark-gluon plasma.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, welcome to Kemer to the NATO Advanced Study Institute Structure and Dynamics of Elementary Matter. We have chosen Kemer as the place of our NASI because it is located in a be- tiful and hospitable surrounding. This part of the Mediterranean at the Turkish Riviera is a historic region where many cultures meet (e.g., the Oriental and the Greek and Roman European cultures) and where you ?nd numerous places which played a role in ancient science and in early Christianity. Moreover, with the hotel Ceylan Inter-Continental we have found a most excellent me- ing place, directly located at the beach, equipped with wonderful swimming pools and restaurants – an absolutely ?rst-class location. Our NASIwill deal withthemost recent developmentsin high-energyheavy ionphysicsandinthesearchforsuperheavynuclei–tworatherdistinctareasof research. Indeed, we want to bring two very active communities of nuclear and high-energy physics into close contact. The meeting is both a school and has also the character of a conference: A school because there are many advanced students, many of which are themselves already top researchers and who are contributing with their own research in seminars and posters. It is also a c- ference because new results in the exciting and wonderful ?elds of low- and high-energy heavy ion physics will be presented. We are mainly focussing on the topics of superheavy elements and of hot and dense nuclear matter.