Physics of high-energy heavy-ion collisions

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Abstract
This is a review of the present status of heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies. The main goal of heavy-ion physics in this energy regime is to shed some light on the nuclear equation of state (EOS), hence we present the basic concept of the EOS in nuclear matter as well as of nuclear shock waves which provide the key mechanism for the compression of nuclear matter. The main part is devoted to models currently used for describing heavy-ion reactions theoretically and to observables useful for extracting information about the EOS from experiments. A detailed discussion of the flow effects with a broad comparison with the available data is presented. The many-body aspects of such reactions are investigated via the multifragmentation break up of excited nuclear systems and a comparison of model calculations with the most recent multifragmentation experiments is presented.