  We investigate the role of short-range correlations in quark matter within
the framework of the SU(2) NJL model. Employing a next-to-leading order
expansion in 1/N_c for the quark self energy we construct a fully
self-consistent model that is based on the relations between spectral functions
and self energies. In contrast to the usual quasiparticle approximations we
take the collisional broadening of the quark spectral function consequently
into account. Mesons are dynamically generated in the fashion of a random phase
approximation, using full in-medium propagators in the quark loops. The results
are self-consistently fed back into the quark self energy. Calculations have
been performed for finite chemical potentials at zero temperature. The
short-range correlations do not only generate finite widths in the spectral
functions but also have influence on the chiral phase transition.
