The (t,3He) and (3He,t) reactions as complementary probes of the spin-isospin response of nuclei ⁎

The (t,3He) reaction at 115 MeV/nucleon has been developed as a tool to extract Gamow-Teller strengths. A secondary triton beam was used, initially produced from a primary α-beam, but since recently from a primary 16O beam. An important advantage of the (t,3He) probe is that the data can be combined with results from the (3He,t) reaction, so that studies in the ΔTz=−1 and ΔTz=+1 direction can be performed with similar probes and good resolutions. This is important for improving the understanding of the reaction mechanism and associated errors in the extraction of transition strengths.