Near-Barrier Fusion of theB8+Ni58Proton-Halo System

Fusion cross sections were measured for the exotic proton-halo nucleus {sup 8}B incident on a {sup 58}Ni target at several energies near the Coulomb barrier. This is the first experiment to report on the fusion of a proton-halo nucleus. The resulting excitation function shows a striking enhancement with respect to expectations for normal projectiles. Evidence is presented that the sum of the fusion and breakup yields saturates the total reaction cross section.