Collective vibrations as doorway states in the damping of nuclear motion

The damping of single-particle and giant resonances is studied. Doorway states containing low-lying surface vibrations are found to play a central role in this process. The coupling to these states lead to damping widths consistent with the empirical systematics. It is however not possible to directly relate these two quantities because of the central role played by the correlation between the particles and the hole in the vibration. (Auth.)