The Early History of the Quark-Gluon Plasma

Abstract

We present the historical antecedents to the field of relativistic heavy ion physics, beginning with early attempts to model the strong interaction and ending with the endorsement of a relativistic heavy ion collider in the 1983 U.S. Long-Range Plan for Nuclear Science. Particular attention is paid to two major themes: 1) A program to study high density states of nuclear matter emerging from the 1974 Bear Mountain conference and 2) Efforts to understand the predictions of QCD for matter at high densities and/or temperatures.

v.2: References and acknowledgments extended, text improved in response to helpful referee comments, final version for publication. 22 pages, Contribution to "Quark Gluon Plasma at Fifty - A Commemorative Journey", Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG, Editors: Tapan Nayak, Marco Van Leeuwen, Steffen Bass, Claudia Ratti, James Dunlop