QCD under extreme conditions: an informal discussion

Abstract

We present an informal discussion of some aspects of strong interactions under extreme conditions of temperature and density at an elementary level. This summarizes lectures delivered at the 2013 CERN -- Latin-American School of High-Energy Physics and is aimed at students working in experimental high-energy physics.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, based on lectures at the 2013 CERN -- Latin-American School of High-Energy Physics, Arequipa, Peru, submitted for publication in a CERN Yellow Repor