Vector mesons containing light quarks are thought to have their masses reduced in dense nuclear matter, sacrificing some of their energy to the scalar field which becomes appreciable at finite baryon density. Model calculations find masses which fall by a couple tens of percents in normal nuclear matter, and by several hundred MeV in dense matter. We estimate the collision rate for ρ mesons in such a scenario and at finite temperature. Compared to its free-mass value, the collision rate changes by nearly a factor of 2 both above and below, depending on the density. This collision broadening effect could be important for estimates of low-mass dilepton production in heavy-ion collisions. © 1996 The American Physical Society.

• Received 22 April 1996

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.54.1492