Preliminary results from the 2000 run of CERES on low-mass e+e− pair production in Pb–Au collisions at 158 A GeV

Abstract

CERES has measured low-mass e+e− pairs in Pb–Au collisions at 158 A GeV in the year 2000 Pb run at the SPS with the goal of shedding more light on the origin of the previously observed low-mass pair enhancement. The spectrometer was upgraded with a radial TPC to improve the mass resolution. A very effective rejection of the combinatorial background is achieved using the combined information of the two RICH detectors, the dE/dx signal of the doublet of silicon drift chambers, and the TPC track dE/dx information. Various steps and the current status of the data analysis are presented.Corrigendum. Table 1 and figures 3 and 4, as originally published, represent an earlier version of the data analysis. The corrected table and figures have been published as a Corrigendum (see below). The Corrigendum has also been appended at the end of the PDF file linked to this page.