The role of Strangeness as a signal of the Quark Gluon Plasma in relativistic heavy ion experiments is discussed. The current experimental status is briefly presented. Several scenarios which explain the CERN data are discussed.
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.
A study of the horn in the particle ratio $K^+/pi^+$ for central heavy-ion collisions as a function of the collision energy $sqrt{s}$ is presented. We analyse two different interpretations: the onset of deconfinement and the transition from a baryon-
to a meson-dominated hadron gas. We use a realistic equation of state (EOS), which includes both hadron and quark degrees-of-freedom. The Taub-adiabate procedure is followed to determine the system at the early stage. Our results do not support an explanation of the horn as due to the onset of deconfinement. Using only hadronic EOS we reproduced the energy dependence of the $K^+/pi^+$ and $Lambda/pi^-$ ratios employing an experimental parametrisation of the freeze-out curve. We observe a transition between a baryon- and a meson-dominated regime; however, the reproduction of the $K^+/pi^+$ and $Lambda/pi^-$ ratios as a function of $sqrt{s}$ is not completely satisfying. We finally propose a new idea for the interpretation of the data, the roll-over scheme, in which the scalar meson field $sigma$ has not reached the thermal equilibrium at freeze-out. The rool-over scheme for the equilibration of the $sigma$-field is based on the inflation mechanism. The non-equilibrium evolution of the scalar field influences the particle production, e.g. $K^+/pi^+$, however, the fixing of the free parameters in this model is still an open issue.
We present results for the measurement of $phi$ meson production via its charged kaon decay channel $phi to K^+K^-$ in Au+Au collisions at $sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=62.4$, 130, and 200 GeV, and in $p+p$ and $d$+Au collisions at $sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV from
the STAR experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The midrapidity ($|y|<0.5$) $phi$ meson transverse momentum ($p_{T}$) spectra in central Au+Au collisions are found to be well described by a single exponential distribution. On the other hand, the $p_{T}$ spectra from $p+p$, $d$+Au and peripheral Au+Au collisions show power-law tails at intermediate and high $p_{T}$ and are described better by Levy distributions. The constant $phi/K^-$ yield ratio vs beam species, collision centrality and colliding energy is in contradiction with expectations from models having kaon coalescence as the dominant mechanism for $phi$ production at RHIC. The $Omega/phi$ yield ratio as a function of $p_{T}$ is consistent with a model based on the recombination of thermal $s$ quarks up to $p_{T}sim 4$ GeV/$c$, but disagrees at higher transverse momenta. The measured nuclear modification factor, $R_{dAu}$, for the $phi$ meson increases above unity at intermediate $p_{T}$, similar to that for pions and protons, while $R_{AA}$ is suppressed due to the energy loss effect in central Au+Au collisions. Number of constituent quark scaling of both $R_{cp}$ and $v_{2}$ for the $phi$ meson with respect to other hadrons in Au+Au collisions at $sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$=200 GeV at intermediate $p_{T}$ is observed. These observations support quark coalescence as being the dominant mechanism of hadronization in the intermediate $p_{T}$ region at RHIC.
Systematic investigations of dilepton production are performed at the SIS accelerator of GSI with the HADES spectrometer. The goal of this program is a detailed understanding of di-electron emission from hadronic systems at moderate temperatures and
densities. New results obtained in HADES experiments focussing on electron pair production in elementary collisions are reported here. They pave the way to a better understanding of the origin of the so-called excess pairs earlier on observed in heavy-ion collisions by the DLS collaboration and lately confirmed in two measurements of the HADES collaboration using C+C and Ar+KCl collisions. Results of these studies are discussed.
The ultra-relativistic heavy-ion programs at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider have evolved into a phase of quantitative studies of Quantum Chromodynamics at very high temperatures. The charm and bottom hadron producti
on offer unique insights into the remarkable transport properties and the microscopic structure of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) created in these collisions. Heavy quarks, due to their large masses, undergo Brownian motion at low momentum, provide a window on hadronization mechanisms at intermediate momenta, and are expected to merge into a radiative-energy loss regime at high momentum. We review recent experimental and theoretical achievements on measuring a variety of heavy-flavor observables, characterizing the different regimes in momentum, extracting pertinent transport coefficients and deducing implications for the inner workings of the QGP medium.