Baryon Stopping and Strangeness Production in Ultra-Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

The stopping behaviour of baryons in massive heavy ion collisions (at SPS, RHIC and LHC) is investigated within different microscopic models. At SPS-energies the predictions range from full stopping to virtually total transparency. Experimental data are indicating strong stopping. The initial baryo-chemical potentials and temperatures at collider energies and their impact on the formation probability of strange baryon clusters and strangelets are discussed.