mike@bambi.UUCP (Michael Caplinger) (12/12/85)
Can anybody tell me why a charged tachyon moving through free space would
generate Cherenkov radiation? I thought I understood the mechanism by which
"ordinary" Cherenkov radiation was generated (say, that caused by fast
neutrons in water) but that involves atomic transitions in surrounding atoms
in the medium, no?
A reference in Physical Review (Phys Rev, v171 #5, 1357-1361 (July 25, 1968)
Alvager and Krieser) references an ancient paper (late 1800s) to "prove" this,
but I didn't want to track that reference down, and didn't believe it anyway
(predates QM, almost!).
Since Cherenkov radiation was used in an unsuccessful attempt to detect
charged tachyons (see reference above), I wondered why you would expect it
in the first place. Is it necessary to resort to QED or "vacuum
fluctuation" arguments?
Michael Caplinger
mike@bellcore.arpa
ihnp4!bambi!mike