Dilepton production at next-to-leading order and intermediate invariant-mass observables

Abstract: The thermal QCD dilepton production rate is calculated at next-to-leading order in the strong coupling and at finite baryon chemical potential. The two-loop virtual photon self-energy is evaluated using finite temperature field theory and combined consistently with the self-energy in the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal regime. We present new results for a dense baryonic plasma. The rates are then integrated using (3+1)-dimensional fluid-dynamical simulations calibrated to reproduce hadronic experimental results obtained at RHIC at energies ranging from those of the Beam Energy Scan to $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}} = 200$ GeV. We elaborate on the ability for dileptons to relay information about the plasma baryonic content and temperature.