  In a complex scattering system with few open channels, say a quantum dot with
leads, the correlation properties of the poles of the scattering matrix are
most directly related to the internal dynamics of the system. We may ask how to
extract these properties from an analysis of cross sections. In general this is
very difficult, if we leave the domain of isolated resonances. We propose to
consider the cross correlation function of two different elastic or total cross
sections. For these we can show numerically and to some extent also
analytically a significant dependence on the correlations between the
scattering poles. The difference between uncorrelated and strongly correlated
poles is clearly visible, even for strongly overlapping resonances.
