A unique parametrization of the shapes of secondary dilepton spectra observed in central heavy-ion collisions at CERN-SPS energies

A unique parametrization of secondary (thermal) dilepton yields in heavy-ion experiments at CERN-SPS is proposed. This parametrization resembles a thermal $q \bar q$ annihilation rate. This is inspired by the observation that lepton pair production rates are quantitatively similar, whether expressed in a hadronic or partonic basis. Adding the thermal yield and the background contributions (hadronic cocktail, Drell-Yan, correlated semileptonic decays of open charm) the spectral shapes of the CERES/NA45, NA38, NA50 and HELIOS/3 data from experiments with lead and sulfur beams can be well described.