DILEPTON AND PHOTON-EMISSION RATES FROM A HADRONIC GAS - III

We extend our early analyses of the dilepton and photon emission rates from a hadronic gas to account for strange mesons using a density exp ansion. The emission rates are reduced to vacuum correlation functions using three-flavor chiral reduction formulas, and the latter are asse ssed in terms of empirical data. Using a fireball, we compare our resu lts to the low and intermediate mass dilepton data available from CERN . Our results suggest that a baryon free hadronic gas does not account for the excess of low mass dielectrons observed at CERES but does wel l in accounting for the intermediate dimuons at HELIOS. The same obser vations apply to the recent low and high p(t) dielectron rates from CE RES. [S0556-2813(98)04411-2].