Probing eigenfunction nonorthogonality by parametric shifts of resonance widths

Recently, it has been shown that the change of resonance widths in an open system under a perturbation of its interior is a sensitive indicator of the nonorthogonality of resonance states. We apply this measure to quantify parametric motion of the resonances. In particular, a strong redistribution of the widths is linked with the maximal degree of nonorthogonality. Then for weakly open chaotic systems we discuss the effect of spectral rigidity on the statistical properties of the parametric width shifts, and derive the distribution of the latter in a picket-fence model with equidistant spectrum.