Overview on charm and dileptons at finite-T and µ
Ralf Rapp · 2010
We discuss how dileptons, open charm and charmonia may be utilized in heavy-ion collisions to extract information specific to hot and dense matter at finite quark chemical potential, µ q .For each observable we briefly discuss underlying theoretical frameworks and the current status in interpreting available heavy-ion data at SPS and RHIC energies.Low-mass dileptons are particularly sensitive to baryonic medium effects in spectral modifications of the ρ meson, and may serve as an accurate measure of the fireball lifetime.In the open-charm sector, observable signals may be generated by a "critical" enhancement of scattering rates via t-channel exchange of a soft σ mode.For charmonia, finite-temperature potential models could be used to extrapolate color-screening effects to finite µ q to facilitate a quantitative evaluation of dissociation rates in the medium.