In this work I explore theoretical and phenomenological implications of
chemical potentials and charge densities inside a strongly coupled thermal
plasma, using the gauge/gravity correspondence. Strong coupling effects
discovered in this model theory are interpreted geometrically and may be taken
as qualitative predictions for heavy ion collisions at RHIC and LHC. In
particular I examine the thermodynamics, spectral functions, transport
coefficients and the phase diagram of the strongly coupled plasma. For example
stable mesons, which are the analogs of the QCD Rho-mesons, are found to
survive beyond the deconfinement transition. This paper is based on partly
unpublished work performed in the context of my PhD thesis. New results and
ideas extending significantly beyond those published until now are stressed.Comment: 45 figures, 166 page
