Rate of Germanium-Isotope Production by Background Processes in the SAGE Experiment.

Data on a direct determination of systematic uncertainties caused by the background production of germanium isotopes in the radiochemical SAGE experiment measuring the solar-neutrino flux are analyzed. The result obtained for the rate of [sup 68]Ge production is 6.5(1±1.0) times greater than the expected one; the rate of [sup 69]Ge production does not exceed preliminary estimates. The above result for [sup 68]Ge corresponds to the systematic uncertainty that is caused by the interaction of cosmic-ray muons and which is equal to 5.8% (4.5 SNU) at a solar-neutrino-capture rate of 77.0 SNU. An experiment is proposed that would test the effect of cosmic-ray muon influence on the SAGE systematic uncertainty and which would be performed at the location of the underground scintillation telescope facilities of the Baksan Neutrino Observatory (Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences).© 2002 MAIK “Nauka / Interperiodica”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]