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Parton/hadron dynamics in heavy-ion collisions at FAIR energies

Recent STAR data for the directed flow of protons, antiprotons and charged pions obtained within the beam energy scan program are analyzed within the Parton-Hadron-String-Dynamics (PHSD/HSD) transport models. Both versions of the kinetic approach are used to clarify the role of partonic degrees of freedom. The PHSD results, simulating a partonic phase and its coexistence with a hadronic one, are roughly consistent with the STAR data. Generally, the semi-qualitative agreement between the measured data and model results supports the idea of a crossover type of quark-hadron transition which softens the nuclear EoS but shows no indication of a first-order phase transition. Furthermore, the directed flow of kaons and antikaons is evaluated in the PHSD/HSD approachesfrom $\sqrt{s_{NN}} \approx$ 3 - 200 GeV which shows a high sensitivity to hadronic potentials in the FAIR/NICA energy regime $\sqrt{s_{NN}} \le$ 8 GeV.