In 1928 he graduated from Voronezh University.
In 1930 he began working in Moscow - at the Physical Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Since 1948 - professor at the Moscow Energy Institute, and since 1951 - at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute. Cherenkov's main works are devoted to physical optics, nuclear physics, cosmic ray physics, and accelerator technology.
Since 1932, Cherenkov worked under the leadership of Academician S.I. Vavilov. It was he who suggested Cherenkov a research topic - the luminescence of solutions of uranium salts under the influence of gamma rays. He also proposed a method that he had used several times before. Oddly enough, Vavilov read the “quenching method” in the old memoir of the physicist F. Marie “New Discoveries Concerning Light.”
“...The method required careful training, a long stay in complete darkness,” wrote physicist V. Kartsev in his excellent book about physicists. “Every working day of Cherenkov began with him hiding in a dark room and sitting there in pitch darkness, getting used to this environment. Only after a long adaptation, sometimes lasting several hours, did Cherenkov approach the instruments and begin measurements. Having begun to irradiate uranium salts with a gamma source, he quickly discovered a strange phenomenon: a mysterious light. It must be said that he was not at all the first to notice this glow. It had already been observed in the Joliot-Curie laboratory and was attributed to the luminescence of impurities present in every, even very pure solution.
Cherenkov called for the leader.
Having gotten used to the darkness, Vavilov saw, as it seemed to him, a cone of weak blue light. But this glow was not at all similar to that which could be observed in solutions under the influence, for example, of ultraviolet rays. It was not the kind of glow that usually occurs due to, as Sergei Ivanovich put it, “dead bacteria,” that is, traces of luminescent substances. P. A. Cherenkov recalled: “Without dwelling on the details of this discovery, I would like to say that it could only be realized in such a scientific school as the school of S. I. Vavilov, where the main signs of luminescence were studied and determined and where they were developed strict criteria for distinguishing luminescence from other types of radiation. It is no coincidence, therefore, that even such a major school of physicists as the Parisian one passed by this phenomenon, mistaking it for ordinary luminescence. I specifically emphasize this circumstance because it more fully and, it seems to me, more correctly defines the outstanding role played by S.I. Vavilov in the discovery of the new effect.”
Vavilov rejected the luminescent nature of the glow.
Firstly, it turned out that it is directed in a cone along the axis of gamma radiation. Secondly, it did not fit into the definitions of luminescence that had been formulated by Vavilov by that time. Ampoules with radium caused a new, unknown type of glow in a solution of uranium salt. The most interesting thing was that it continued even when the salt concentration was reduced to completely homeopathic doses. Moreover, pure distilled water glowed. At the same time, the intensity of the unusual glow was not affected by those substances that usually strongly quenched normal luminescence, such as potassium iodide and aniline. The spectral composition of the glow did not depend in any way on the composition of the liquid.
Rumors about the newly discovered glow spread throughout Moscow and Leningrad. I.M. Frank wrote that he remembers very well the caustic remarks about the fact that at FIAN they are studying the useless glow of who knows what, who knows where. “Have you tried studying with a hat?” - unfamiliar and familiar physicists asked Cherenkov sarcastically.
The message about the new discovery was published in the “Reports of the USSR Academy of Sciences” in 1934.
There were, in fact, two messages.
The first - about the discovery of the phenomenon - was signed by P. A. Cherenkov; Vavilov refused to sign so as not to complicate Cherenkov’s defense of his Ph.D. thesis. The second is signed by Vavilov - it describes the effect and definitely states that it is in no way related to luminescence, but is caused by free fast electrons formed when gamma rays act on the medium. It is interesting that Vavilov writes about the “blue” glow. This is proof of his rich physical intuition; the color of the radiation was impossible to detect under those conditions.
The effect was fully explained only in 1937, when two Soviet physicists I.M. Frank and I.E. Tamm developed its theory. The explanation was completely unusual: indeed, as Vavilov claimed, this glow is caused by electrons. But not simple ones, but ones that move at speeds exceeding the speed of light. Of course, we are talking about the speed of light propagation in a given medium. Moving faster than this speed, electrons emit electromagnetic waves. The Vavilov–Cherenkov glow appears. Subsequently, after the war (in 1958), both the discoverers and explainers of this phenomenon were awarded the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prize was awarded to P. A. Cherenkov, I. E. Tamm and I. M. Frank. Vavilov had died by that time, and the Nobel Prize, as is known, is awarded only to the living.
Cherenkov defended his doctoral dissertation on the same phenomenon. One of his opponents was Academician L.I. Mandelstam. Professor S. M. Raisky later recalled: “I was sitting in the Mandelstam dining room when Leonid Isaakovich finished writing his review and left the office. He let me read his review. After reading, I asked why S. I. Vavilov occupies such a large place in the review of P. A. Cherenkov’s dissertation? Leonid Isaakovich replied: “The role of Sergei Ivanovich in the discovery of the effect is such that it should always be indicated when talking about this discovery.”
In 1947, V.L. Ginzburg theoretically showed that using the Vavilov–Cherenkov phenomenon it is possible to generate ultrashort, millimeter and even submillimeter waves. Cherenkov counters, whose operating principle is based on the detection of atomic particles due to the resulting glow, have become extremely widely used. This subtle method of research has led to brilliant discoveries of our time, in particular the discovery of the antiproton and antineutron, the first antimatter particles created on Earth.
In 1970, Cherenkov was elected a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
“The initial experimental discovery is usually accidental. That is why it cannot be foreseen and it turns out to be the result of chance. Such happy occasions are very rare in the life of even the most active scientist. Therefore, they cannot be skipped. You should never ignore unexpected and incomprehensible phenomena that you accidentally encounter in an experiment.”
These words of Academician Semenov were undoubtedly well understood by Cherenkov.
Cherenkov made a significant contribution to the creation of electronic accelerators - synchrotrons. In particular, he took an active part in the design and construction of the 250 MeV synchrotron. For this work in 1952 he received the State Prize. He studied the interaction of bremsstrahlung with nucleons and nuclei, photonuclear and photomesonic reactions. He received another state prize in 1977 for a series of works on the study of the fission of light nuclei by high-energy gamma rays. In 1984 he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
Russian physicist Pavel Alekseevich Cherenkov(1904-1990) was born in Novaya Chigla near Voronezh. His parents Alexey and Maria Cherenkov were peasants. After graduating from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Voronezh University in 1928, he worked as a teacher for two years. In 1930, he became a graduate student at the Institute of Physics and Mathematics of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Leningrad and received his Ph.D. degree in 1935. Then he became a researcher at the Physical Institute. P. N. Lebedev in Moscow, where he later worked.
In 1932, under the leadership of Academician S.I. Vavilov, Cherenkov began to study the light that appears when solutions absorb high-energy radiation, for example, radiation from radioactive substances. He was able to show that in almost all cases the light was caused by known causes, such as fluorescence. In fluorescence, incident energy excites atoms or molecules to higher energy states (according to quantum mechanics, each atom or molecule has a characteristic set of discrete energy levels), from which they quickly return to lower energy levels. The difference between the energies of higher and lower states is released in the form of a unit of radiation - a quantum, the frequency of which is proportional to the energy. If the frequency belongs to the visible region, then the radiation appears as light. Since the differences in energy levels of the atoms or molecules through which the excited substance passes, returning to the lowest energy state (ground state), usually differ from the energy of the quantum of incident radiation, the emission from the absorbing substance has a different frequency than that of the radiation generating it. Typically these frequencies are lower.
However, Cherenkov discovered that gamma rays (which have much higher energy and therefore frequency than X-rays) emitted by radium gave off a faint blue glow in the liquid, which could not be explained satisfactorily. This glow was also noted by others. Decades before Cherenkov, it was observed by Marie and Pierre Curie while studying radioactivity, but it was believed that it was simply one of the many manifestations of luminescence. Cherenkov acted very methodically. He used double distilled water to remove any impurities that could be hidden sources of fluorescence. He used heat and added chemicals, such as potassium iodide and silver nitrate, which reduced the brightness and changed other characteristics of normal fluorescence, always doing the same experiments with control solutions. The light in the control solutions changed as usual, but the blue glow remained unchanged.
The research was significantly complicated by the fact that Cherenkov did not have high-energy radiation sources and sensitive detectors, which later became the most common equipment. Instead, he had to use weak, naturally occurring radioactive materials to produce gamma rays, which produced a faint blue glow, and instead of a detector, rely on his own vision, sharpened by long periods of time in the dark. Nevertheless, he was able to convincingly show that the blue glow is something extraordinary.
A significant discovery was the unusual polarization of the glow. Light represents periodic oscillations of electric and magnetic fields, the intensity of which increases and decreases in absolute value and regularly changes direction in a plane perpendicular to the direction of movement. If the directions of the fields are limited to special lines in this plane, as in the case of reflection from a plane, then the light is said to be polarized, but the polarization is nevertheless perpendicular to the direction of propagation. In particular, if polarization occurs during fluorescence, then the light emitted by the excited substance is polarized at right angles to the incident beam. Cherenkov discovered that the blue glow was polarized parallel, rather than perpendicular, to the direction of the incident gamma rays. Studies carried out in 1936 also showed that the blue glow is not emitted in all directions, but spreads forward relative to the incident gamma rays and forms a cone of light, the axis of which coincides with the trajectory of the gamma rays. This was a key factor for his colleagues, Ilya Frank and Igor Tamm, who created a theory that gave a complete explanation for the blue glow, now known as Cherenkov radiation (Vavilov-Cherenkov in the Soviet Union).
According to this theory, a gamma ray is absorbed by an electron in a liquid, causing it to escape from the parent atom. A similar encounter has been described Arthur Compton and is called the Compton effect. The mathematical description of this effect is very similar to the description of collisions of billiard balls. If the exciting beam has sufficiently high energy, the ejected electron is ejected at a very high speed. Frank and Tamm's remarkable idea was that Cerenkov radiation occurs when an electron travels faster than light. Others were apparently deterred from making such an assumption by the fundamental postulate of the theory of relativity. Albert Einstein, according to which the speed of a particle cannot exceed the speed of light. However, such a limitation is relative and is valid only for the speed of light in vacuum. In substances like liquids or glass, light travels at a slower speed. In liquids, electrons knocked out of atoms can travel faster than light if the incident gamma rays have enough energy.
The Cherenkov cone of radiation is similar to the wave that occurs when a boat moves at a speed exceeding the speed of propagation of waves in water. It is also similar to the shock wave that occurs when an airplane crosses the sound barrier.
For this work, Cherenkov received the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences in 1940. Together with Vavilov, Tamm and Frank, he received the Stalin (later renamed the State) Prize of the USSR in 1946.
In 1958, together with Tamm and Frank, Cherenkov was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics “for the discovery and interpretation of the Cherenkov effect.” Manne Sigbahn of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences noted in his speech that “the discovery of the phenomenon now known as the Cherenkov effect provides an interesting example how relatively simple physical observations, when done correctly, can lead to important discoveries and pave new paths for further research."
28 July 1904 - 06 January 1990
Soviet physicist, two-time Stalin Prize laureate, Nobel Prize laureate in physics
Biography
Pavel Alekseevich's parents, Alexey Egorovich and Maria Cherenkov, were peasants.
In 1928, Cherenkov graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Voronezh University (VSU). After graduating from the university, Cherenkov was sent to teach at a school in the city of Kozlov, present-day Michurinsk. Two years later, Maria Alekseevna Putintseva, the daughter of Alexei Mikhailovich Putintsev, a Voronezh literary local historian, professor at Voronezh State University, founder of the house-museum I. S. Nikitin, who also graduated from Voronezh State University, the department of Russian language and literature of the pedagogical department, received assignment to the same city. In 1930, Cherenkov married Maria Putintseva. In 1932, their son Alexey was born, and in 1936, their daughter Elena. In November 1930, Alexei Mikhailovich Putintsev, a local historian, was arrested in Voronezh in connection with the case. At the very end of the same year, Pavel Alekseevich’s father, Alexey Egorovich Cherenkov, was “dispossessed” in Novaya Chigla. In 1931, Alexei Yegorovich was tried and sent into exile. He was accused of belonging to the Socialist Revolutionary Party and of participating in the “kulak” meeting of 1930. In 1937, the scientist’s father was arrested again, in 1938 he was convicted and executed for counter-revolutionary agitation.
In 1930, Cherenkov entered graduate school at the Institute of Physics and Mathematics in Leningrad. In 1935 he defended his candidate's dissertation, and in 1940 - his doctorate. Since 1932 he worked under the leadership of S.I. Vavilov. Since 1935 - employee of the Physical Institute named after. P. N. Lebedeva in Moscow (FIAN), since 1948 - professor at the Moscow Energy Institute, since 1951 - professor at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute.
Member of the CPSU since 1946. Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1964). Full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1970).
Cherenkov spent the last 28 years of his life in a metropolitan apartment in the area of Leninsky Prospekt, where various institutes of the Academy of Sciences are located, including the Lebedev Physical Institute.
Pavel Alekseevich Cherenkov died on January 6, 1990 from obstructive jaundice. He rests at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.
Prizes and awards
- Stalin Prize (1946, 1951)
- USSR State Prize (1977)
- Nobel Prize in Physics (1958)
- Hero of Socialist Labor (1984)
Memory
- In 1994, a Russian postage stamp was issued in honor of Cherenkov.
Scientific activity
Cherenkov's main works are devoted to physical optics, nuclear physics, and high-energy particle physics. In 1934, he discovered a specific blue glow of transparent liquids when irradiated with fast charged particles. Showed the difference between this type of radiation and fluorescence. In 1936, he established its main property - the directionality of radiation, the formation of a light cone, the axis of which coincides with the trajectory of the particle. The theory of Cherenkov radiation was developed in 1937 by I. E. Tamm and I. M. Frank.
The Vavilov-Cherenkov effect underlies the operation of detectors of fast charged particles (Cherenkov counters). Cherenkov participated in the creation of synchrotrons, in particular the 250 MeV synchrotron (Stalin Prize, 1952). In 1958, together with Tamm and Frank, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics “for the discovery and interpretation of the Cherenkov effect.” Manne Sigbahn of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences noted in his speech that “the discovery of the phenomenon now known as the Cherenkov effect provides an interesting example of how a relatively simple physical observation, if done correctly, can lead to important discoveries and pave new paths for further research.” . He carried out a series of works on the fission of helium and other light nuclei with high-energy ?-quanta (USSR State Prize, 1977).
The first Soviet Nobel Prize laureate in physics, an outstanding Soviet scientist, whose main works are devoted to physical optics, nuclear physics and high-energy particle physics, two-time laureate of the Stalin and State Prizes, Hero of Socialist Labor, academician P. A. Cherenkov was born on 28 (15th century) . Art.) July 1904 in the village of Novaya Chigla, Bobrovsky district (now Talovsky district) of the Voronezh province in a family of wealthy middle peasants.
The road to the heights of science began for the future physicist at a parochial school, which Pavel Cherenkov graduated from in 1917.
His further education was interrupted by the turbulent events of the revolution and civil war. As a 13-year-old teenager, he gets a job at a local rural consumer association (general store) as a laborer. A smart, competent, quick-witted guy was noticed. In 1919, he was transferred to work as a clerk in the same organization.
Village of Novaya Chigla
In 1920, at the base transferred from Bobrov to Novaya Chigla, the gymnasium opened a second-level school, in which Pavel Cherenkov continued his studies, combining it with the work of an accountant at the Novochigolsk dumping station. In 1924, having received a school certificate, he entered the physics and technology department of the pedagogical faculty of Voronezh University and four years later, in 1928, he graduated with honors.
Main building of VSU (1930s)
The young specialist was sent as a physics teacher to a secondary school in the city of Kozlov (now Michurinsk). After 2 years, Maria Alekseevna Putintseva, daughter of Alexei Mikhailovich Putintsev, Voronezh literary local historian, professor at Voronezh State University, founder of the I. S. Nikitin house-museum, was assigned to the same city. Maria was also a graduate of VSU, having graduated from the department of Russian language and literature of the pedagogical department. The young people began a romantic relationship, which led them to a wedding that took place in 1930.
Exhibition in memory of A.M. Putintseva
However, family life at first was not destined to be cloudless and happy. At the end of 1930, Maria’s father was arrested in Voronezh in connection with the case of local historians, and Pavel Cherenkov’s father, Alexey Egorovich, was dispossessed in Novaya Chile at the same time. In 1931, the father of the future academician was convicted and sent into exile. The charges included possible membership in the Socialist Revolutionary Party and participation in a “kulak” meeting in 1930. The investigation showed that the accusations were erroneous, but in 1937 the father of the future scientist was again arrested, convicted and executed allegedly for counter-revolutionary agitation. 
In this sense, P. A. Cherenkov was not only a hero of his era, but its martyr and victim. As many other equally worthy people did, he did not publicly renounce his family. But until the end of his days he carried in his soul the pain of loss about his father, whom for a long time he could not even tell his children.
Vavilov S.I. with employees of the State Optical Institute
In 1930, P. A. Cherenkov entered graduate school at the Institute of Physics and Mathematics of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Leningrad. This is where his scientific activity began, when in 1932 a young graduate student, at the suggestion of his supervisor S.I. Vavilov, undertook to study the luminescence of solutions of uranyl salts under the influence of radium Ў-rays. In the process of these studies, he discovered a new, surprisingly beautiful physical phenomenon: under the influence of radioactive rays, a faint glow appeared in optically transparent liquids, sharply different from ordinary luminescence. In surprisingly simple according to modern concepts, but labor-intensive experiments in which the method of photometry based on the visual threshold was used - developed by Vavilov and Brumberg - P. A. Cherenkov discovered and studied all the basic properties of the radiation he discovered. During these experiments, the scientist’s character traits clearly emerged - passion, extraordinary perseverance, the ability to find the simplest ways to solve emerging problems, attention to the “details” of the experiment.
Physical Institute named after. P.N. Lebedeva (FIAN)
Meanwhile, in 1935, having defended his Ph.D. thesis, P. A. Cherenkov became a research fellow at the Physics Institute. P.N. Lebedev in Moscow (FIAN), where he later worked. In 1936, a young scientist made a discovery that played an important role in the development of experiments in particle physics: having discovered the emission of light by “fast electrons” (that is, electrons having speeds exceeding the speed of light in a medium), he established the main property of what he discovered blue glow - its direction, the formation of a light cone, the axis of which coincides with the trajectory of the particle. This was a key factor for his colleagues, Ilya Frank and Igor Tamm, to create a theory that provided a complete explanation for the blue glow, now known as Cherenkov radiation (Vavilov–Cherenkov radiation in the Soviet Union). For this work in 1940, P. A. Cherenkov was awarded the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.
P. A. Cherenkov and colleagues
During the Great Patriotic War, P. A. Cherenkov was involved in the development of a defense device based on the use of certain methods of nuclear physics.
In subsequent years, the scientific interests of P.A. Cherenkov were associated with cosmic ray research. The result of these studies was the discovery of multiply charged ions in the secondary component of cosmic radiation.
Beginning in 1946, P.A. Cherenkov participated in the development and construction of the first electron accelerators in the laboratory headed by V.I. Wexler. For participation in the work on creating an electron synchrotron with an energy of 250 MeV, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Cherenkov, together with a team of authors, was awarded the Stalin Prize of the second degree (later renamed the State Prize).
P. A. Cherenkov in the laboratory
Subsequently, he led the work related to the improvement of the main components of the synchrotron, as a result of which, in terms of its parameters, the accelerator took a leading place in the world among installations of this class. Thanks to this, a then modern experimental base was created in the Soviet Union for conducting research on the physics of electronic interactions in the field of medium energies.
1958 Nobel Prize Laureates
Meanwhile, Cherenkov’s discovery quickly attracted the attention of specialists from different countries, and when the rapid development of its practical applications began, primarily thanks to Cherenkov counters of elementary particles, his name became perhaps the most frequently mentioned in works on experimental physics.
The scientific isolation of the USSR prevented the earlier nomination of P. A. Cherenkov for the Nobel Prize. Although it is now known that there was at least one such attempt. In 1952, Leon Rosenfeld, a famous theoretical physicist and then a professor at the University of Manchester, proposed Cherenkov's candidacy. At the same time, he noted the difficulties with presenting the texts of works describing the Cherenkov effect, and could only attach a list of them.
P. A. Cherenkov receives the Nobel Prize
However, over time the situation changed. Our country and its science have opened up more to the world. In 1958, P.A. Cherenkov, I.E. Tamm and I.M. Frank became the first physicists in our country to win the Nobel Prize, which was awarded to them with the wording “for the discovery and interpretation of the Cherenkov effect.”
Pavel Alekseevich Cherenkov
In 1928 he graduated from Voronezh University.
In 1930 he began working in Moscow - at the Physical Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Since 1948 - professor at the Moscow Energy Institute, and since 1951 - at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute. Cherenkov's main works are devoted to physical optics, nuclear physics, cosmic ray physics, and accelerator technology.
Since 1932, Cherenkov worked under the leadership of Academician S.I. Vavilov. It was he who suggested Cherenkov a research topic - the luminescence of solutions of uranium salts under the influence of gamma rays. He also proposed a method that he had used several times before. Oddly enough, Vavilov read the “quenching method” in the old memoir of the physicist F. Marie “New Discoveries Concerning Light.”
“...The method required careful training, a long stay in complete darkness,” wrote physicist V. Kartsev in his excellent book about physicists. “Every working day of Cherenkov began with him hiding in a dark room and sitting there in pitch darkness, getting used to this environment. Only after a long adaptation, sometimes lasting several hours, did Cherenkov approach the instruments and begin measurements. Having begun to irradiate uranium salts with a gamma source, he quickly discovered a strange phenomenon: a mysterious light. It must be said that he was not at all the first to notice this glow. It had already been observed in the Joliot-Curie laboratory and was attributed to the luminescence of impurities present in every, even very pure solution.
Cherenkov called for the leader.
Having gotten used to the darkness, Vavilov saw, as it seemed to him, a cone of weak blue light. But this glow was not at all similar to that which could be observed in solutions under the influence, for example, of ultraviolet rays. It was not the kind of glow that usually occurs due to, as Sergei Ivanovich put it, “dead bacteria,” that is, traces of luminescent substances. P. A. Cherenkov recalled: “Without dwelling on the details of this discovery, I would like to say that it could only be realized in such a scientific school as the school of S. I. Vavilov, where the main signs of luminescence were studied and determined and where they were developed strict criteria for distinguishing luminescence from other types of radiation. It is no coincidence, therefore, that even such a major school of physicists as the Parisian one passed by this phenomenon, mistaking it for ordinary luminescence. I specifically emphasize this circumstance because it more fully and, it seems to me, more correctly defines the outstanding role played by S.I. Vavilov in the discovery of the new effect.”
Vavilov rejected the luminescent nature of the glow.
Firstly, it turned out that it is directed in a cone along the axis of gamma radiation. Secondly, it did not fit into the definitions of luminescence that had been formulated by Vavilov by that time. Ampoules with radium caused a new, unknown type of glow in a solution of uranium salt. The most interesting thing was that it continued even when the salt concentration was reduced to completely homeopathic doses. Moreover, pure distilled water glowed. At the same time, the intensity of the unusual glow was not affected by those substances that usually strongly quenched normal luminescence, such as potassium iodide and aniline. The spectral composition of the glow did not depend in any way on the composition of the liquid.
Rumors about the newly discovered glow spread throughout Moscow and Leningrad. I.M. Frank wrote that he remembers very well the caustic remarks about the fact that at FIAN they are studying the useless glow of who knows what, who knows where. “Have you tried studying with a hat?” - unfamiliar and familiar physicists asked Cherenkov sarcastically.
The message about the new discovery was published in the “Reports of the USSR Academy of Sciences” in 1934.
There were, in fact, two messages.
The first - about the discovery of the phenomenon - was signed by P. A. Cherenkov; Vavilov refused to sign so as not to complicate Cherenkov’s defense of his Ph.D. thesis. The second is signed by Vavilov - it describes the effect and definitely states that it is in no way related to luminescence, but is caused by free fast electrons formed when gamma rays act on the medium. It is interesting that Vavilov writes about the “blue” glow. This is proof of his rich physical intuition; the color of the radiation was impossible to detect under those conditions.
The effect was fully explained only in 1937, when two Soviet physicists I.M. Frank and I.E. Tamm developed its theory. The explanation was completely unusual: indeed, as Vavilov claimed, this glow is caused by electrons. But not simple ones, but ones that move at speeds exceeding the speed of light. Of course, we are talking about the speed of light propagation in a given medium. Moving faster than this speed, electrons emit electromagnetic waves. The Vavilov–Cherenkov glow appears. Subsequently, after the war (in 1958), both the discoverers and explainers of this phenomenon were awarded the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prize was awarded to P. A. Cherenkov, I. E. Tamm and I. M. Frank. Vavilov had died by that time, and the Nobel Prize, as is known, is awarded only to the living.
Cherenkov defended his doctoral dissertation on the same phenomenon. One of his opponents was Academician L.I. Mandelstam. Professor S. M. Raisky later recalled: “I was sitting in the Mandelstam dining room when Leonid Isaakovich finished writing his review and left the office. He let me read his review. After reading, I asked why S. I. Vavilov occupies such a large place in the review of P. A. Cherenkov’s dissertation? Leonid Isaakovich replied: “The role of Sergei Ivanovich in the discovery of the effect is such that it should always be indicated when talking about this discovery.”
In 1947, V.L. Ginzburg theoretically showed that using the Vavilov–Cherenkov phenomenon it is possible to generate ultrashort, millimeter and even submillimeter waves. Cherenkov counters, whose operating principle is based on the detection of atomic particles due to the resulting glow, have become extremely widely used. This subtle method of research has led to brilliant discoveries of our time, in particular the discovery of the antiproton and antineutron, the first antimatter particles created on Earth.
In 1970, Cherenkov was elected a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
“The initial experimental discovery is usually accidental. That is why it cannot be foreseen and it turns out to be the result of chance. Such happy occasions are very rare in the life of even the most active scientist. Therefore, they cannot be skipped. You should never ignore unexpected and incomprehensible phenomena that you accidentally encounter in an experiment.”
These words of Academician Semenov were undoubtedly well understood by Cherenkov.
Cherenkov made a significant contribution to the creation of electronic accelerators - synchrotrons. In particular, he took an active part in the design and construction of the 250 MeV synchrotron. For this work in 1952 he received the State Prize. He studied the interaction of bremsstrahlung with nucleons and nuclei, photonuclear and photomesonic reactions. He received another state prize in 1977 for a series of works on the study of the fission of light nuclei by high-energy gamma rays. In 1984 he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
Died in 1990.
From the book 100 Great Nobel Laureates author Mussky Sergey AnatolievichPAVEL ALEXEEVICH CHERENKOV (1904-1990) Pavel Alekseevich Cherenkov was born on July 28, 1904 in the village of Novaya Chigla, Voronezh region, into a peasant family. After graduating from high school, Pavel entered Voronezh State University, from which he graduated in 1928. After that
From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BE) by the author TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (ZA) by the author TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (CU) by the author TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (RO) by the author TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (SE) by the author TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (CHE) by the author TSB From the book of Aphorisms author Ermishin OlegAemilius Paulus (Lucius Aemilius Paulus) (c. 230 - 160 BC) commander, winner of the Macedonian king Perseus Organizing a feast and building a battle line are very similar tasks: the first should be as pleasant as possible in the eyes of the guests, the second - as scary as possible in the eyes
From the book 100 great originals and eccentrics author Balandin Rudolf KonstantinovichPaul When the Gentiles, who do not have the law [of God], by nature do what is lawful, then, not having the law, they are a law unto themselves: They show that the work of the law is written in their hearts. And should we not do evil that good may come, how some people slander us and say that we are so
From the book 100 Great Biblical Characters author Ryzhov Konstantin VladislavovichPaul I Sometimes Emperor Paul I (1754–1801) is portrayed as a jester on the throne. There are many anecdotes about his ridiculous orders. Although he did not tolerate buffoonery, he was quick-tempered and eccentric - a great eccentric and original. Unlike the Roman emperors, who were maddened by
From the book Berries. Guide to growing gooseberries and currants author Rytov Mikhail V. From the book Big Dictionary of Quotes and Catchphrases author Dushenko Konstantin Vasilievich6.4.1. Preparation of cuttings Cuttings are cut from strong one-year-old shoots, from 2-year-old shoots they root poorly, from 4 to 6 vershoks (18 - 27 cm) in length; with weak shoots, cuttings are cut half as long, which cannot be approved, because then weak rooting and small growth are obtained.
PAUL I (1754–1801), Russian Emperor since 1796 1 A storm in a teacup. // Une temp?te dans un verre d’eau (French). During his stay he led. book Paul in Paris (May–June 1782) Louis XVI mentioned the unrest in the Geneva Republic; Pavel replied: “Your Majesty, for you this is a storm in a teacup.”
From the author's bookPAUL IV (Paulus IV, 1476–1559), pope from 1555; previously (from 1542) he headed the Roman Inquisition 6 Index (List) of prohibited books. // Index librorum prohibitorum (lat.). A list of books compiled in 1559 that were prohibited from being “copied, published, printed,<…>keep or give to