ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a compendium of the basic questions and well established results concerning the physics of nuclei at finite temperature and angular momentum. The study of collective motion in hot nuclei in general, and of giant resonances in particular, provides a unique probe to study the evolution of the nuclear structure as a function of temperature. The giant dipole resonance corresponds to a back and forth sloshing of neutrons against protons. Giant resonances are associated with the elastic, short time response of the system. The special stability ascribed to nuclei with given numbers of protons and neutrons, testifies to the fact that nucleons in nuclei move essentially independent of each other, feeling the pushings and pullings of other nucleons only when trying to leave the system. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
