Magnetic contribution to dilepton production in heavy-ion collisions

We calculate a novel magnetic contribution to the dilepton spectrum in heavy-ion collisions arising from interaction of relativistic quarks with intense magnetic field. Synchrotron radiation by quarks, which can be approximated by the equivalent photon flux, is followed by dilepton decay of photons in an intense magnetic field. We argue that the magnetic contribution dominates the dilepton spectrum at low lepton energies, whereas a conventional photon dilepton decay dominates at higher lepton energies