Chemical potential dependence of π and ρ properties

Using a confining, Dyson-Schwinger equation model of QCD at finite temperature (T) and chemical potential (mu), we study the behavior of [(q) over bar q], m(pi), f(pi) and the masses of the rho- and phi-mesons. For each of these quantities there is a necessary anticorrelation between its response to T and its response to mu. ( -[(q) over bar q]) and f(pi) decrease with T and increase with mu; m(pi) is almost insensitive to T and mu until very near the border of the confinement domain: the mass of the longitudinal component of the vector mesons increases with T and decreases with mu. At T=0, the rho-meson mass is reduced by approximately 15% at nuclear matter density. These results are a consequence of the necessary momentum-dependence of the dressed-quark self-energy.