QCD matter

Hypothetical phases of matter

Quark matter or QCD matter (quantum chromodynamic matter) refers to any of a number of hypothetical phases of matter built from quarks and gluons, of which the prominent example is quark-gluon plasma. At different temperatures and densities quark matter takes different forms, including a hadron gas, nuclear matter, quark-gluon plasma, and regions of color superconductivity. Quarks are liberated into quark matter at extremely high temperatures and/or densities, and some of them are still only theoretical as they require conditions so extreme that they cannot be produced in any laboratory, especially not at equilibrium conditions.

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