The effects of magnetic interaction between vector mesons and nucleons on the propagation (mass and width) of the ρ meson, in particular moving through very dense nuclear matter, is studied and the modifications, qualitative and quantitative, due to the relevant collective modes (zero-sound and plasma frequencies) of the medium discussed. It is shown that the ρ mesons produced in high-energy nuclear collisions will be on the verge of instability in the region of sufficiently dense nuclear matter, in the presence of such an interaction. © 1996 The American Physical Society.

• Received 13 November 1995

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.53.790