Cherenkov radiation

Or Cerenkov radiation

noun

Physics.

1. radiation produced by a particle passing through a medium at a speed greater than that of light through the medium.

Cherenkov radiation

/ tʃɪˈrɛŋkɒf /

noun

1. the electromagnetic radiation produced when a charged particle moves through a medium at a greater velocity than the velocity of light in that medium

Word History and Origins

Origin of Cherenkov radiation¹

First recorded in 1935–40; named after P. A. Cherenkov

Word History and Origins

Origin of Cherenkov radiation¹

C20: named after Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov (1904–90), Soviet physicist

Example Sentences

Observatory2 located in Namibia uses five large telescopes to capture and record the faint Cherenkov radiation produced by the heavily charged particles and photons that enter the Earth's atmosphere, producing a shower of particles in their wake.

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In this translucent medium, the sensors pick up tiny flashes of so-called Cherenkov radiation that forms when a vanishingly rare neutrino hits the ice and creates a shower of secondary particles.

Read more on Scientific American

These faster-than-light events manifest as bright flashes of blue light called Cherenkov radiation.

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The shrapnel includes mysterious particles called muons that can be seen as faint blue flashes known as Cherenkov radiation in the observatory’s dark water.

Read more on Seattle Times

Yet when a neutrino, exceedingly rarely, hits an atomic nucleus in the water, it produces a cone of blue light called Cherenkov radiation.

Read more on New York Times