At one stage in its evolution the entire universe was in a peculiar quark-gluon plasma state. Then it cooled yielding the protons and neutrons of today's galaxies.
Scientists seek to recreate a tiny piece of quark-gluon plasma by colliding large nuclei.
Numerical simulations allow us to deduce and predict properties of the quark-qluon plasma. Calculations are being coordinated between the University of Utah and several national computing centers.