High density matter

The microscopic composition and properties of matter at super-saturation densities have been the subject of intense investigation for decades. The scarcity of experimental and observational data has led to the necessary reliance on theoretical models. There remains great uncertainty in these models which, of necessity, have to go beyond the over-simple assumption that high density matter consists only of nucleons and leptons. Heavy strange baryons, mesons and quark matter in different forms and phases have to be included to fulfil basic requirements of fundamental laws of physics. In this contribution latest developments in construction of the Equation of State (EoS) of high-density matter at zero and finite temperature assuming different composition of matter will be discussed. Critical comparison of model EoS with available experimental data from heavy ion collisions and observations on neutron stars, including gravitational mass, radii and cooling patterns and data on X-ray burst sources and low mass X-ray binaries are made. Fundamental differences between the EoS of low-density, high temperature matter, such as is created in heavy ion collisions and of high-density, low temperature compact objects is discussed. (authors)