We derive thermal QCD sum rules for the correlation function of two vector currents in the rho-meson channel. It takes into account the leading non-perturbative corrections from the additional operators, which appear due to the breakdown of Lorentz invariance at finite temperature. The mixing of the new operators has a drastic effect on their coefficients. The thermal average of all the operators can be related to that of the quark condensate and the energy density. The sum rules then yield the temperature dependence of the parameters of the ρ meson, namely its mass and coupling to the vector current. Our result is that these parameters are practically independent of temperature at least up to a temperature of 125 MeV.

• Received 17 November 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.58.096011