Experimental overview of electromagnetic probes in ultra-relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions

TL;DR

Electromagnetic probes offer direct insights into the space-time evolution and thermal properties of quark-gluon plasma in ultra-relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions, crucial for understanding high-energy nuclear matter.

Contribution

This paper reviews current experimental results and future prospects of electromagnetic probes in studying quark-gluon plasma in heavy-ion collisions.

Findings

Electromagnetic probes reveal thermal radiation from quark-gluon plasma.

Measurements help extract the medium's effective temperature.

Current results advance understanding of high-energy nuclear matter.

Abstract

Electromagnetic probes are not affected by hadronization and provide direct information about the space-time evolution of high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. In particular, the measurement of thermal radiation from the quark-gluon plasma and the extraction of an effective medium temperature belong to the key objectives in heavy-ion physics. We provide a brief tour of current results and an outlook to future measurements.