Quark plasma, also known as quark-gluon plasma (QGP), is a state of matter that is believed to have existed in the early universe, shortly after the Big Bang, and can also be created in high-energy particle collisions. It is a state in which quarks and gluons, the elementary particles that make up protons, neutrons, and other hadrons, are no longer confined within these composite particles.
Under normal conditions, due to the strong force, quarks are confined within hadrons and cannot exist in isolation. However, at extremely high temperatures and densities, such as those present in the early universe or created in particle accelerators, the energy can be sufficient to overcome the confinement and liberate the quarks and gluons.
In a quark-gluon plasma, the quarks and gluons move freely and interact strongly with each other. This state is characterized by the absence of confinement, meaning that quarks and gluons are not bound together in hadrons like protons and neutrons. Instead, they form a hot and dense soup-like medium where quarks and gluons constantly interact and collide.
The study of quark-gluon plasma provides insights into the properties and behavior of strongly interacting matter under extreme conditions. It helps us understand the early universe, the phase transitions that occurred shortly after the Big Bang, and the properties of the fundamental particles and forces that govern the universe. Quark-gluon plasma has been observed in experiments at particle colliders, such as the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, where heavy ions are collided at high energies to recreate conditions similar to those just after the Big Bang.