Heavy ions as spin probes

Charge exchange and inelastic scattering of heavy ions appear to offer significant advantages over nucleon projectiles for the study of spin-isospin strength in nuclei. This paper discusses studies performed to data and assesses the potential for further advances, including applications to astrophysics, with the new generation of heavy ion spectrographs. Coincident detection of gamma rays at the target location will permit experiments with selectivity not available with lighter projectiles. A brief description of the NSCL S800 spectrograph project is also presented