Abstract
In the heavy-ion excitation of nuclei near closed shells, an amplitude involving singleparticle degrees of freedom interferes with a collective, core-polarization amplitude which has a large Coulomb component. Thus details of the nuclear structure and of the microscopic reaction mechanism may have significant effects on the observed Coulombnuclear interference pattern. Calculations are given which demonstrate such effects and resolve the outstanding problem in the heavy-ion excitation of O18.