Systematics of the nuclear giant dipole resonance

We study the systematics of the giant dipole resonance width Gamma in hot rotating nuclei as a function of temperature T, spin J and mass A. We compare available experimental results with theoretical calculations that include thermal shape fluctuations in nuclei ranging from A = 45 to A = 208. Using the appropriate scaled variables, we find a simple phenomenological function Gamma(T, J, A) which approximates the global behavior of the giant dipole resonance width in the liquid drop model. We reanalyze recent experimental and theoretical results for the resonance width in Sn isotopes and Pb-208.