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Abstract

New results for the double beta decay of Ge-76 are presented. They are extracted from data obtained with the HEIDELBERG- MOSCOW experiment, which operates five enriched 76Ge detectors in an extreme low-level environment in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory. The two-neutrino-accompanied double beta decay is evaluated for the first time for all five detectors with a statistical significance of 47.7kgy resulting in a half-life of T-1/2(2 nu) = [1.55 +/- 0.01(stat) (+0.19)(- 0.15)(syst)] x 10(21) y. The lower limit on the half-life of the 0 nu beta beta decay obtained with pulse shape analysis is T-1/2(0 nu) > 1.9 x 10(25) (3.1 x 10(25)) y with 90% C.L. (68% C.L.) (with 35.5 kgy). This results in an upper limit of the effective Majorana-neutrino mass of 0.35 eV (0.27 eV) using the matrix elements of A. Staudt et al.'s work (Europhys. Lett. 13, 31 (1990)). This is the most stringent limit at present from double beta decay. Nio evidence for a majoron-emitting decay mode is observed.