The NA60 experiment at the CERN SPS has measured muon pairs with unprecedented precision in 158 A GeV In-In collisions. A strong excess of pairs above the known sources is observed in the whole mass region 0.2 < M < 2.6 GeV. The mass spectrum for M < 1 GeV is consistent with a dominant contribution from π + π − → ρ → μ + μ − annihilation. The associated ρ spectral function shows a strong broadening, but essentially no shift in mass. For M > 1 GeV, the excess is found to be prompt, not due to enhanced charm production, with pronounced differences to Drell-Yan pairs. The slope parameter T eff associated with the transverse momentum spectra rises with mass up to the ρ, followed by a sudden decline above. The rise for M < 1 GeV is consistent with radial flow of a hadronic emission source. The seeming absence of significant flow for M > 1 GeV and its relation to parton-hadron duality is discussed in detail, suggesting a dominantly partonic emission source in this region. A comparison of the data to the present status of theoretical modeling is also contained. The accumulated empirical evidence, including also a Plancklike shape of the mass spectra at low p T and the lack of a e-mail: sanja.damjanovic@cern.ch polarization, is consistent with a global interpretation of the excess dimuons as thermal radiation. We conclude with first results on ω in-medium effects.PACS 25.75.-q · 12.38.Mh · 13.85.Qk
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