Scars of discrete rotational bands in hot nuclei

Rotational motion loses its coherence as a function of the nuclear internal excitation energy. The damping process does not proceed in a continuous fashion and scars of discrete rotational bands are found, inbedded in a background of damped rotational states, regardless whether the calculations are carried out using effective or “random” forces. The complexity of the damping mechanism is revealed in the lineshape of the ridges in the γ-γ correlation spectrum.