Workshop for young scientists with research interests focused on physics at FAIR

We examine the quark percolation transition at finite density, discovered in [1] and generalized to the full phase diagram in [2]. We show that this transition has many of the characteristics claimed for quarkyonic matter as defined in [3]. The percolation transition should arise, in our physical world (3 colors, 2-3 flavors) at densities parametrically larger than normal nuclear density but smaller than the densities required for deconfinement. Both FAIR and neutron stars are therefore ideal laboratories for looking for such a percolation transition. We sketch the effective theory of the percolating Yang-Mills matter and suggest phenomenological signatures in both neutron stars and FAIR-energy collisions. Based on [1] and [2]. [1] S.Lottini and G.Torrieri, Phys.Rev.Lett. 107 (2011) 152301 [2] S.Lottini and G.Torrieri, http://arxiv.org/abs/1204.3272 [3] L.McLerran and R.Pisarski http://arxiv.org/abs/0706.2191