Chemical potential dependence of π and ρ properties

Using a confining, Dyson-Schwinger equation model of QCD at finite temperature $\mathrm{}\left(T\right)\mathrm{}$ and chemical potential (μ), we study the behavior of $〈\overline{q}q〉,$ $m_{\pi },$ $f_{\pi }$ and the masses of the ρ- and φ-mesons. For each of these quantities there is a necessary anticorrelation between its response to $T$ and its response to μ. $\left(-〈\overline{q}q〉\right)$ and $f_{\pi }$ decrease with $T$ and increase with μ; $m_{\pi }$ is almost insensitive to $T$ and μ 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 μ. At $T=0,$ the ρ-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.