Summary talk: Experiments at low energies

Abstract

In heavy-ion collisions at beam energies √sNN between 1 and 150A GeV highest baryonic densities are reached at rather moderate temperatures. By varying the beam energy and the system size a broad range of the QCD phase diagram is scanned where several interesting phenomena are predicted by theoretical models. Apart from possible phase transitions and existence of a critical point in this regime, the production of strangeness and the interaction of strange particles with the surrounding hot and dense nuclear medium constitutes a prominent probe not only to address the underlying reaction mechanisms and production processes but in particular to constrain densities and temperatures reached in the course of the collision.Recent results on heavy-ion collisions in this beam energy regime obtained by various experimental collaborations are summarized, with special emphasis on strangeness production, rare probes, and critical phenomena. The importance of data on elementary reactions (i.e., pp, p+nucleus, and π+nucleus) as a bench mark for theoretical models and their relevance for understanding the underlying mechanisms of heavy-ion collisions are being discussed. Several interesting observables have been presented in various contributions, which give further motivation for the construction of high-rate experiments at new accelerator facilities.