Giant resonances at finite temperature: A probe of the structure of hot nuclei

Giant dipole resonances (GDR) built on excited nuclear states probe the structure of heated and rotating nuclei. In the lecture a review is given of the current status of experiments on the photon decay of excited state GDR's. These experiments provide information on the deformations and fluctuations of the shapes of hot rotating nuclei, and on the characteristics and limits of collective motion at high temperature. (orig.)