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===Strong force phase transition===
[[File:QCD phase diagram.png|thumb|300px|right|Conjectured form of the phase diagram of QCD matter, with temperature on the vertical axis and quark [[chemical potential]] on the horizontal axis, both in mega-[[electron volt]]s.<ref name='RMP'>{{cite journal|author1=Alford, Mark G.|author2=Schmitt, Andreas|author3=Rajagopal, Krishna|author4=Schäfer, Thomas|title=Color superconductivity in dense quark matter|arxiv=0709.4635 |journal=Reviews of Modern Physics |volume=80|issue=4 |pages=1455–1515 |year=2008|doi=10.1103/RevModPhys.80.1455|bibcode=2008RvMP...80.1455A|s2cid=14117263}}</ref>]]
The strong force binds together [[quarks]] into [[protons]] and [[neutrons]], in a phenomenon known as [[color confinement]]. However, at sufficiently high temperatures, protons and neutrons disassociate into free quarks. The strong force phase transition marks the end of the [[quark epoch]]. Studies of this transition based on [[lattice QCD]] have demonstrated that it would have taken place at a temperature of approximately 155 [[MeV]], and would have been a smooth crossover transition.<ref name="aoki-qcd">{{cite journal |last1=Aoki |first1=Y. |last2=Endrodi |first2=G. |last3=Fodor |first3=Z. |last4=Katz |first4=S. D. |last5=Szabo |first5=K. K. |title=The order of the quantum chromodynamics transition predicted by the standard model of particle physics |journal=Nature |date=2006 |volume=443 |issue=7112 |pages=675–678 |doi=10.1038/nature05120|pmid=17035999 |arxiv=hep-lat/0611014 |bibcode=2006Natur.443..675A |s2cid=261693972 }}</ref> In the early universe the chemical potential of baryons is assumed to be near zero and the transition near 170MeV converts a quark-gluon plasma to a hadron gas.<ref name=Manzudar-2019/>{{rp|25}}
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