  Unstable particles (such as the vector mesons) have an important role to play
in low mass dilepton production resulting from heavy ion collisions and this
has been a subject of several investigations. Yet subtleties, such as the
implications of the generalization of the Breit-Wigner formula for nonzero
temperature and density, e.g. the question of collisional broadening, the role
of Bose enhancement, etc., the possibility of the kinematic opening (or
closing) of decay channels due to environmental effects, the problem of double
counting through resonant and direct contributions, are often given
insufficient emphasis. The present study attempts to point out these features
using the rho and omega mesons as illustrative examples. The difference between
the two versions of the Vector Meson Dominance Model in the present context is
also presented. Effects of non-zero temperature and density, through vector
meson masses and decay widths, on dilepton spectra are studied, for
concreteness within the framework of a Walecka-type model, though most of the
basic issues highlighted apply to other scenarios as well.
