Recent lattice results on finite temperature and density QCD, part I

Abstract

We discuss recent progress made studies of bulk thermodynamics of strongly interacting matter through lattice simulations of QCD with an almost physical light and strange quark mass spectrum. We present results on the QCD equation of state at vanishing and non-vanishing quark chemical potential and show first results on baryon number and strangeness fluctuations, which might be measured in event-by-event fluctuations in low energy runs at RHIC as well as at FAIR.