Lepton pair production accompanied by giant dipole resonance

The STAR Collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has presented data on electron-positron pair production accompanied by nuclear breakup at small impact parameters where the simultaneous excitation of the two ions, mainly the giant dipole resonance (GDR), can occur. We calculate the electron-positron pair production cross section relevant for the STAR experimental setup, and compare our results with those from other calculations. We also show predictions for the LHC energies.