Strongly Interacting Matter at High Energy Density

Abstract

This lecture concerns the properties of strongly interacting matter (which is described by Quantum Chromodynamics) at very high energy density. I review the properties of matter at high temperature, discussing the deconfinement phase transition . At high baryon density and low temperature, large $N_c$ arguments are developed which suggest that high baryonic density matter is a third form of matter, Quarkyonic Matter, that is distinct from confined hadronic matter and deconfined matter. I finally discuss the Color Glass Condensate which controls the high energy limit of QCD, and forms the low x part of a hadron wavefunction. The Glasma is introduced as matter formed by the Color Glass Condensate which eventually thermalizes into a Quark Gluon Plasma.