Hadroproduction of Massive Lepton Pairs and Qcd

A survey is presented of some current issues of interest in attempts to describe the production of massive lepton pairs in hadronic collisions at high energies. I concentrate on the interpretation of data in terms of the parton model and on predictions derived from quantum-chromodynamics (QCD), their reliability and their confrontation with experiment. Among topics treated are the connection with deep-inelastic lepton scattering, universality of structure functions, and the behavior of cross-sections as a function of transverse momentum. (Invited talk presented at ORBIS SCIENTIAE 1979, Coral Gables, Florida, January 15-19, 1979.) * Work supported by the Department of Energy under contract number EY-76-C-03-0515. ** Permanent address.