The goal of this collaboration between the PI and David Blaschke at the University of Rostock involving senior investigators, postdoctoral fellows, and students is to study and derive effective models for non-perturbative quantum chromodynamics at finite temperature and baryon density. This proposal unites the U.S. group with its expertise in Dyson-Schwinger equations and model field theories with the German group, who are experts in many-body techniques at finite temperature. The collaboration produces a group that is ideally suited to discover those observables that may provide characteristic signatures of quark-gluon plasma formation. The collaborative exchange visits are designed to facilitate rapid progress through intensive periods of close interaction. The education and training of students and postdoctoral fellows is a significant aspect of this proposal.
