The aim of this book is to offer to the next generation of young researchers a broad and largely self-contained introduction to the physics of heavy ion collisions and the quark-gluon plasma, providing material beyond that normally found in the available textbooks. For each of the main aspects - QCD thermodynamics and global features of the QGP, collision hydrodynamics, electromagnetic probes, jet and quarkonium production, color glass condensate, and the gravity connection - the present volume provides extensive and pedagogical lectures, surveying the present status of both theory and experiment. A particular feature of this volume is that all lectures have been written with the active assistance of selected students present at the course in order to ensure the adequate level and coverage for the intended readership.

Quark-Gluon Plasma introduces the primordial matter, composed of two types of elementary particles, created at the time of the Big Bang. During the evolution of the universe, Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) undergoes a transition to hadronic matter governed by quantum chromodynamics, the law of strong interactions. After an introduction to gauge theories, various aspects of quantum chromodynamic phase transitions are illustrated in a self-contained manner. The cosmological approach and renormalization group are discussed, as well as the cosmological and astrophysical implications of QGP, on the basis of Einstein's equations. Recent developments towards the formation of QGP in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions are also presented in detail. This text is suitable as an introduction for graduate students, as well as providing a valuable reference for researchers already working in this and related fields. It includes eight appendices and over a hundred exercises.

This is the fifth volume in the series on the subject of quark-gluon plasma, a unique phase created in heavy-ion collisions at high energy. It contains review articles by the world experts on various aspects of quark-gluon plasma taking into account the advances driven by the latest experimental data collected at both the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The articles are pedagogical and comprehensive which can be helpful for both new researchers entering the field as well as the experienced physicists working on the subject.

"This is the fifth volume in the series on the subject of quark-gluon plasma, a unique phase created in heavy-ion collisions at high energy. It contains review articles by the world experts on various aspects of quark-gluon plasma taking into account the advances driven by the latest experimental data collected at both the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The articles are pedagogical and comprehensive which can be helpful for both new researchers entering the field as well as the experienced physicists working on the subject."--

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

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 is a review volume containing articles written by experts on current theoretical topics in the subject of Quark-Gluon Plasma created in heavy-ion collisions at high energy. It is the fourth volume in the series with the same title sequenced numerically. The articles are written in a pedagogical style so that they can be helpful to a wide range of researchers from graduate students to mature physicists who have not worked previously on the subject. A reader should be able to learn from the reviews without having extensive knowledge of the background literature.