Xref: utzoo sci.misc:850 sci.physics:2932
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From: carl@aoa.UUCP (Carl Witthoft)
Newsgroups: sci.misc,sci.physics
Subject: Re: differences between sound and light waves?
Message-ID: <98@aoa.UUCP>
Date: 24 Feb 88 20:36:43 GMT
References: <5537@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>
Reply-To: carl@aoa.UUCP (Carl Witthoft)
Organization: Adaptive Optics Assoc., Cambridge, Mass. USA
Lines: 20

In article <5537@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> jeric@tybalt.caltech.edu.UUCP (J. Eric Grove) writes:
>In article <3129@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> jfc@athena.mit.edu (John F Carr) writes:
>>The blue glow is the result of massive (i.e., not massless)
>>particles losing energy as they slow to the speed of light in water.
>Note that this statement is misleading.  Charged particles lose about 3 orders
>of magnitude more energy in ionizing the medium they are traversing than in
>generating Cerenkov radiation.  Typical ionization energy losses for
>		J. Eric Grove
What's going on here? I thought that the whole point of
Cerenkov radiation was that it is a "bow wave" of light given off
by a particle moving faster than the speed of photons in the present
medium.  The radiation is somewhat like a sonic boom.


-- 

Alix's Dad ( Carl Witthoft @ Adaptive Optics Associates)
{ima,harvard}!bbn!aoa!carl
54 CambridgePark Drive, Cambridge,MA 02140 617-864-0201
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