The 71Ga(3He, t) reaction and the low-energy neutrino response

A 71Ga(3He, t)71Ge charge-exchange experiment was performed to extract with high precision the Gamow-Teller (GT) transition strengths to the three lowest-lying states in 71Ge, i.e., the ground state (1/2−), the 175 keV (5/2−) and the 500 keV (3/2−) excited states. These are the relevant states, which are populated via a charged-current reaction induced by neutrinos from reactor-produced 51Cr and 37Ar sources. A precise measurement of the GT transition strengths is an important input into the calibration of the SAGE and GALLEX solar neutrino detectors and addresses a long-standing discrepancy between the measured and evaluated capture rates from the 51Cr and 37Ar neutrino calibration sources, which has recently spawned new ideas about unconventional neutrino properties.