Cherenkov radiation
Radiación de Cherenkov
- Date
- 1934 · confidence high
- Place
- Lebedev Institute, Leningrad/Moscow, Russia
- Credited to
- Pavel Cherenkov; Ilya Frank; Igor Tamm
- People
- 👤 Serguéi Vavilov1891–1951
- Field
- Communication
What was discovered
A charged particle moving through a medium faster than light travels in that medium emits a cone of bluish light, explained by Frank and Tamm in 1937. It is the 'sonic boom' of light and an essential detection tool.
Sergei Vavilov directed the work; in Russia it is called Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation.
What it led to
- Cherenkov detectors in particle physics
- Neutrino telescopes (Super-Kamiokande, IceCube)
- Atmospheric gamma-ray telescopes
- Particle identification by velocity
Built on
- Special relativity1905
- Classical electrodynamics
- Luminescence of radium solutions (Curie)
Made possible
- Neutrino oscillation (neutrinos have mass)1998
- Cherenkov counter
- Water neutrino detectors