Probing the properties of the strongly-interacting quark gluon plasma at RHIC Original Research Article

Experimental evidences at RHIC, for a strongly-interacting quark gluon plasma (sQGP), are reviewed. We discuss three related phenomena, elliptic flow, jet quenching and medium responses, that have provided much of the evidences. We examine current constraints on the transport properties of sQGP from these phenomena, point out their intrinsic connections and uncertainties, and outline future improvements on the study of the sQGP, particularly those using heavy flavor probes.