From Wikipedia: "Theoretical and experimental works show that the formation of a quark–gluon plasma occurs at the temperature of T ≈ 150–160 MeV (the Hagedorn temperature) and an energy density of ≈ 0.4–1 GeV/cubic fm. While at first a phase transition was expected, present day theoretical interpretations propose [instead] a phase transformation similar to the process of ionisation of normal matter into ionic and electron plasma." A presumed critical point prevents an observable phase transition viewable with existing accelerators. Currently in Germany a new accelerator is under construction, which can produce beams of antiprotons, and of all nuclei, at roughly 1 GeV/u. This accelerator will be able to explore regions of the nuclear equation of state that are currently not possible to access.

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QUARK-GLUON PLASMA

In lattice gauge QCD, quarks are placed at specific sites on a lattice, and gluons are placed on the links between lattice sites. This approach was first suggested in the early 1970s by Kenneth Wilson (1936 - 2013), and has ever since been the most often-used approach to solving strong-interaction problems. At any given time, such calculations consume all the power of the largest and fastest available computers. Eventually supercomputers were specifically designed with lattice gauge QCD calculations in mind.

LATTICE GAUGE MOVIE

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