The phase diagram of QCD is an object of intense theoretical interest today, since it is the only phase diagram in a relativistic quantum field theory which is open to experimental probes. In this connection, the Beam Energy Scan (BES) program at the RHIC in BNL is being watched with great interest by an extensive community of physicists interested in the strong interactions and nuclear matter. The BES will scan through a line in the phase diagram of QCD which passes very close to current lattice predictions for the location of the critical point of QCD. If the experiments are successful in locating the critical point of QCD, then this will be the first phase transition detected experimentally in relativistic quantum field theories, and will have enormous implications in many related fields.This topical discussion meeting, being organized as a satellite meeting of the ICTS program WHEPP XII, is a response to the enormous interest in this problem nationally and internationally. India ha...
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