Temperature dependence of the quark propagator within a Dyson-Schwinger approach

We present calculations of the quark propagator within the Dyson-Schwinger equations (DSEs) at non-zero temperature for various quark masses. Using a phenomenological gluon propagator and the rainbow approximation to truncate the DSEs the analytical structure is examined for temperature effects. The loci of singularities in the complex momentum plane potentially characterize the phase state with respect to chiral symmetry and confinement. The chiral condensate and the dual condensate offer measures of the chiral and the deconfinement transition, respectively. They are studied as a function of the temperature and compared with other quantities characterizing the quark propagator. The results of the DSEs serve as input for the Bethe-Salpeter equation, which provides an access to the meson spectrum and temperature driven medium modifications.