Update on Chiral Symmetry Restoration in the Context of Dilepton Data

Abstract: We evaluate currently available information on low-mass dilepton and direct-photon emission spectra measured in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. In the first part an attempt is made to develop a consistent picture of the in-medium effects on the electromagnetic spectral function and pinpoint its emission history by utilizing its radial and elliptic flow signatures. In the second part we elaborate on the implications of the empirical information on the nature of chiral symmetry restoration. We indicate how the melting of the $\rho$ resonance in hot and dense matter is related to, and compatible with, the reduction of chiral order parameters as "measured" in thermal lattice QCD.