There and Sharp Again: The Circle Journey of Nucleons and Energy Deposition

A central question in high-energy nuclear phenomenology is how the geometry of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formed in relativistic nuclear collisions is precisely shaped. In our understanding of such processes, two features are especially crucial for the determination of the QGP geometry, respectively, the nucleon size and the energy deposition scheme. This contribution reports on the (circular) evolution of such features in state-of-the-art model incarnations of heavy-ion collisions over the past seven years. Ideas for future directions of investigation are pointed out.