Quark-Gluon Plasma

Abstract

An elementary introduction to the physics of quark-gluon plasma is given. We start with a sketchy presentation of the Quantum Chromodynamics which is the fundamental theory of strong interactions. The structure of hadrons built up of quarks and gluons is briefly discussed with a special emphasis on the confinement hypothesis. Then, we explain what is the quark-gluon plasma and consider why and when the hadrons can dissolve liberating the quarks and gluons. The heavy-ion collisions at high-energies, which provide a unique opportunity to get a droplet of the quark-gluon plasma in the terrestrial conditions, are described. We also consider the most promising experimental signatures of the quark-gluon plasma produced in nucleus-nucleus collisions. At the end, the perspectives of the quark-gluon plasma studies at the future accelerators are mentioned.