The Discovery of Cherenkov Radiation and its use in the detection of extensive air showers

TL;DR

This paper reviews the discovery of Cherenkov radiation and its application in detecting extensive air showers caused by high-energy cosmic rays, aiding in understanding cosmic ray properties.

Contribution

It provides a historical overview of Cherenkov radiation discovery and details its utilization in ground-based detection of cosmic ray-induced air showers.

Findings

Cherenkov radiation is crucial for detecting high-energy cosmic rays.

Ground-based detection methods rely on Cherenkov light and fluorescence radiation.

These techniques help analyze cosmic rays above 10^14 eV.

Abstract

Cascades of charged particles are created when high-energy cosmic rays enter the earth's atmosphere: these 'extensive air-showers' are studied to gain information on the energy spectrum, arrival direction distribution and mass composition of the particles above 1014 eV where direct observations using instruments carried by balloons or satellites become impractical. Detection of light in the visible and ultra-violet ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum plays a key role in this work, the two processes involved being the emission of Cherenkov light and the production of fluorescence radiation. In this paper I will outline some of the history of the discovery of the Cherenkov process and describe the use to which it has been put in the study of extensive air-showers at ground level.