  The nuclear collective response is investigated in the framework of a doorway
picture in which the spreading width of the collective motion is described as a
coupling to more and more complex configurations. It is shown that this
coupling induces fluctuations of the observed strength. In the case of a
hierarchy of overlapping decay channels, we observe Ericson fluctuations at
different scales. Methods for extracting these scales and the related lifetimes
are discussed. Finally, we show that the coupling of different states at one
level of complexity to some common decay channels at the next level, may
produce interference-like patterns in the nuclear response. This quantum effect
leads to a new type of fluctuations with a typical width related to the level
spacing.
