Quark–gluon plasma

Quark–gluon plasma (QGP or quark soup) is an interacting localized assembly of quarks and gluons at thermal (local kinetic) and (close to) chemical (abundance) equilibrium. The word plasma signals that free color charges are allowed. In normal matter quarks are confined; in the QGP quarks are deconfined. Quark–gluon plasma (QGP) occurs at energy densities high enough to melt the protons and neutrons that make up the nuclei of normal matter. It is a very low viscosity liquid composed of the elementary particles, quarks and gluons, a new state of matter.

Quark–gluon plasma is studied to understand the characteristics of the Universe at about 20 μs after the Big Bang. Experimental groups use ultrarelativistic beams of ions colliding with other ions or protons to create this plasma in particle accelerators.

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