Precision Measurement of the (7)Be Solar Neutrino Interaction Rate in Borexino

A direct measurement of the 0.862 MeV 7Be solar neutrino interaction rate performed with the Borexino detector at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso yields 46.0±1.5stat+1.6−1.5syst counts/day/(100 tons). Our result is the first direct measurement of a sub-MeV solar neutrino rate with an accuracy better than 5%. The hypothesis of no oscillation for 7Be solar neutrinos is rejected at 4.9σ C.L. Using the latest Standard Solar Model (SSM) flux predictions, the result leads directly to a precise determination of the survival probability for solar νe's in vacuum, and permits us to probe with unprecedented sensitivity the transition between the matter-enhanced and vacuum-dominated neutrino os…