Summary
A critical discussion of the present status of the CERN experiments on hadron collective flow is given. We emphasize the importance of the flow excitation function from 1 to 50 A·GeV: here the hydrodynamic model has predicted the collapse of the <InlineEquation ID=IE"1"><EquationSource Format="TEX"><![CDATA[<InlineEquation ID=IE"2"><EquationSource Format="TEX"><![CDATA[$]]></EquationSource></InlineEquation>]]></EquationSource></InlineEquation>v_1$ flow and of the v2 flow at ∼10 A·GeV; at 40 A·GeV it has been recently observed by the NA49 Collaboration. Since hadronic rescattering models predict much larger flow than observed at this energy we interpret this observation as potential evidence for a first order phase transition at high baryon density ρB. A detailed discussion of the collective flow as a barometer for the equation of state (EoS) of hot dense matter at RHIC follows. Here, hadronic rescattering models can explain <30% of the observed elliptic flow, v2, for pT > 2 GeV/c. This is interpreted as evidence for the production of superdense matter at RHIC with initial pressure far above hadronic pressure, p > 1 GeV/fm3. We suggest that the fluctuations in the flow, v1 and v2, should be measured in future since ideal hydrodynamics predicts that they are larger than 50% due to initial state fluctuations. Furthermore, the QGP coefficient of viscosity may be determined experimentally from the fluctuations observed.