TY - INPR A1 - Elfner, Hannah A1 - Müller, Berndt T1 - The exploration of hot and dense nuclear matter: Introduction to relativistic heavy-ion physics N2 - This article summarizes our present knowledge about nuclear matter at the highest energy densities and its formation in relativistic heavy ion collisions. We review what is known about the structure and properties of the quark-gluon plasma and survey the observables that are used to glean information about it from experimental data. Y1 - 2022 UR - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/71697 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-716977 ER -