Model gluon propagator and pion and rho-meson observables

A one parameter, model confined-gluon propagator is employed in a phenomenological application of the Dyson-Schwinger and Bethe-Salpeter equations to the calculation of a range of $\pi$- and $\rho$-meson observables. Good agreement is obtained with the data. The calculated quark propagator does not have a singularity on the real-$p^2$ axis. A mass formula for the pion, involving only the vacuum, dressed quark propagator, is presented and shown to provide an accurate estimate of the mass obtained via a direct solution of the Bethe-Salpeter equation.