Cherenkov, Pavel Alexeevich (1904–1990)

Soviet physicist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1958 for his discovery in 1934 of Cherenkov radiation; this occurs as a bluish light when charged atomic particles pass through water or other media at a speed in excess of that of light. He shared the award with his colleagues Ilya Frank and Igor Tamm for work resulting in a cosmic-ray counter.

Cherenkov discovered that this effect was independent of any medium and depended for its production on the passage of high-velocity electrons. The phenomenon has also been claimed as the discovery of the French scientist Lucien Mallet.