Generalized shock adiabatics and relativistic nuclear collisions

In the framework of relativistic hydrodynamics various shock wave configurations for a medium with anomalous thermodynamical properties are considered. The generalized shock adiabatic is constructed and applied to relativistic nuclear collisions in an energy region where the deconfinement transition is expected. Different forms of the hadron matter equation of state and their possible experimental consequences for relativistic nuclear collisions are discussed. We find for particular equations of state of broad region of constant specific entropy which may serve as useful signal for the deconfinement transition. (orig.)