The fusion of neutron-rich nuclei with $^{208}$Pb

I report the results of two experiments dealing with the fusion of n-rich nuclei with $^{208}$Pb. In the first experiment, the fusion excitation function was measured for the interaction of $^{32,36}$S with $^{208}$Pb to determine the isospin dependence of fusion enhancement. The deduced fusion barriers for the $^{32,36}$S + $^{208}$Pb reactions were 152.0 and 142.5 MeV, respectively, a 9.5 MeV downward shift for the n-rich projectile. The implications of this shift for the synthesis of n-rich heavy nuclei will be presented. In the second study, the sub-barrier fusion of $^{9}$Li with $^{70}$Zn and $^{208}$Pb was measured, leading to a finding of enhanced sub-barrier fusion beyond that predicted by coupled channel calculations. The importance of this finding for nuclear astrophysics will be discussed.