Dileptons and Photons at RHIC

TL;DR

This paper reviews how photons and dileptons emitted during heavy ion collisions at RHIC provide insights into the collision dynamics, summarizing theoretical models and comparing them with experimental data.

Contribution

It offers a concise summary of theoretical electromagnetic emission rates from hot media and compares these predictions with experimental results at collider energies.

Findings

Thermal electromagnetic emissivities are modeled for hot partonic and hadronic media.

Comparison shows consistency between theoretical predictions and experimental data.

Electromagnetic probes reveal details of the collision evolution.

Abstract

Electromagnetic emission in the form of photons or dileptons provide important information on the onset and evolution of a heavy ion collision at ultrarelativistic energies. We briefly summarize the theoretical assessments of the thermalized electromagnetic emissivities from a hot partonic and hadronic medium, and compare them to current experiments at collider energies.