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

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 fluiddynamical simulations calibrated to reproduce hadronic experimental results obtained at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at energies ranging from those of the Beam Energy Scan to .,root s (NN) = 200 GeV. We elaborate on the ability of dileptons to relay information about the plasma baryonic content and temperature.