Scaling analysis of the fluctuating strength function - art. no. 034307

We propose a new method to analyze fluctuations in the strength function ph enomena in highly excited nuclei. Extending the method of multifractal anal ysis to the cases where the strength fluctuations do not obey power scaling laws, we introduce a new measure of fluctuation, called the local scaling dimension, which characterizes scaling behavior of the strength fluctuation as a function of energy bin width subdividing the strength function. We di scuss properties of the new measure by applying it to a model system which simulates the doorway damping mechanism of giant resonances. It is found th at the local scaling dimension well characterizes fluctuations and their en ergy scales of fine structures in the strength function associated with the damped collective motions. [80556-2813(99)01609-X].