Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-symmetry-and-relativity-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/4/c/b/solution
Past exam of the symmetry and relativity course of the University of Oxford 2016 4 c b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
In a transparent uniform medium, constructive phase interference along the trajectory requires . Since , the Cherenkov cone angle obeysHere , so emission is allowed andThe electron is not an isolated vacuum particle: it interacts with the dielectric polarization of the medium. Here the angle describes the photon direction relative to the trajectory; the conical wavefront surface has the complementary angle.
This angle is the classical or negligible-recoil result. At finite photon energy, energy-momentum bookkeeping in a nondispersive medium gives a recoil correction proportional to ; no photon frequency is supplied for such a correction. In a dispersive medium use separately for each transparent frequency band.
New to topics? Read the docs here!