Physics Stack Exchange
Physics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [cherenkov-radiation]

the electromagnetic shock-wave due to a charged particle traveling through a medium faster than the speed of light in that medium.

The mathematical treatment of Cerenkov radiation is exactly analogous to that of a sonic boon.

Cerenkov radiation can be seen with the naked eye as a blue glow in the cooling bath of nuclear reactors, and has been used as the basis of a particle detection technology.

79 questions
28
votes
3 answers

Would warp bubbles emit gravitational Cerenkov radiation in general relativity?

Inspired by the gravtiomagnetic analogy, I would expect that just as a charged tachyon would emit normal (electromagetic) Cerenkov radiation, any mass-carrying warp drive would emit gravitational Cerenkov radiation. The gravitomagnetic approximation…
Retarded Potential
  • 2,125
26
votes
3 answers

How can muons travel faster than light through ice?

When a neutrino traveling through ice hits and interacts with an oxygen atom, muons are created. Cherenkov radiation can be created when muons travel through ice faster than light and create a coherent shock wave with some high frequent…
Marijn
  • 3,408
16
votes
2 answers

What happens if light/particles exceeded the speed of light for a particular medium?

While the speed of light in vacuum is a universal constant ($c$), the speed at which light propagates in other materials/mediums may be less than $c$. This is obviously suggested by the fact that different materials (especially in the case of…
Robin Maben
  • 1,187
  • 3
  • 13
  • 23
11
votes
2 answers

How do air Cherenkov telescopes work?

The very highest energy photons, gamma-rays, are too energetic to be detected by standard optical methods. In fact they rarely actually make it to the surface of the Earth at all but interact with molecules in the Earth's atmosphere. The high energy…
dagorym
  • 6,477
10
votes
1 answer

Can Cherenkov radiation be a color other than blue?

Recently, I asked a question about the plausibility of green superheated plasma (like the green plasma blasts in many video games) in real life. I actually found a post in the SciFi Stack Exchange asking a similar question about green plasma in…
FeatAnalyzer
  • 193
10
votes
2 answers

Would using Cherenkov radiation for lighting be feasible?

Could Cherenkov radiation be used for general illumination, for example, to replace LEDs, light bulbs etc? I.e. are there, or could there be, methods to produce substantial amount visible light with Cherenkov radiation: using devices compact and…
miikkas
  • 775
9
votes
3 answers

Alongside a light ray (in another medium)

It is a said fact that the speed of light is insurmountable. But can the validity of this fact be questioned in another medium? If I pass a beam of light in, say water (here the light speed is reduced) and travel alongside it, then my dynamic mass…
Abhinav
  • 1,650
  • 3
  • 18
  • 35
8
votes
3 answers

Cherenkov radiation in the frame of a moving observer

Imagine a medium in which an electron is moving at speeds faster than the speed of light in the medium. Within the same medium an observer moves at the same speed with the electron. Will the observer detect Cherenkov radiation from the electron in…
Dr. user44690
  • 1,650
7
votes
0 answers

Trouble with Classical Derivation of Cherenkov Radiation Mechanism -- Magnetic Field Intensity

I've been going through a translation of Frank and Tamm's original theory on Cherenkov radiation published by Jelley in 1958, and the bottom line is that I'm stuck on one of the intuitive leaps that was performed in the derivation. Been looking…
D. Hodge
  • 185
7
votes
3 answers

Why is Cherenkov Radiation faint blue in colour?

In 1934, Cherenkov discovered that electrons moving with large constant velocities through polarizable media caused a faint bluish glow. 'Why is the radiation blue in colour? How can a charged body moving with constant velocity emit an…
Adithya Gopz
  • 101
7
votes
3 answers

Cherenkov radiation: can it happen in a jar using tap water with 8 Thorium-laced lantern mantles as a radiation source?

I placed 10 thorium laced lantern mantles into a wide mouth glass jar 5.25 inches diameter x 6 inches tall, filled with tap water to just below the threaded neck portion of the jar. The jar mouth opening internal diameter is 3.75 inches. The…
Steve Cummins
  • 71
5
votes
1 answer

What is the mechanism of the Askaryan effect?

(Quoted largely from Wikipedia): Askaryan radiation, known otherwise as the Askaryan effect, is a phenomenon which occurs when a particle traveling faster than the phase velocity of light in a dense dielectric produces a shower of secondary charged…
10GeV
  • 839
  • 7
  • 22
5
votes
2 answers

Cherenkov light rings instead of solid circles?

Let's suppose a muon emits Cherenkov light while travelling in a medium along a straight line. Let's suppose the motion is perpendicular to a wall which is instrumented with photomultipliers. Question: Should these PMTs "see" a ring or a solid…
Antonio19932806
  • 587
5
votes
1 answer

What is the source of light in Cherenkov radiation?

When charged particle inside a media moves faster than the speed of light of that media, a faint bluish glow is observed which we call as "Cherenkov radiation". It is a very common scenario in nuclear power plant. I have been told that the high…
Sabbir Ahmed
  • 567
4
votes
5 answers

Is the speed of causality slower in water?

I've recently read that what most people learned to think of as the 'speed of light' is actually the 'speed of causality', and that light just happens to travel at that speed (through free-space.) I'm also aware that light travels measurably slower…
Cognitive Hazard
  • 453
1
2 3 4 5 6