Phys. Rev. A 66, 042102 (2002) [7 pages]Cherenkov radiation of superluminal particlesReceived 15 June 2001; published 3 October 2002 Any charged particle moving faster than light through a medium emits Cherenkov radiation. We show that charged particles moving faster than light through the vacuum emit Cherenkov radiation. How can a particle move faster than light? The weak speed of a charged particle can exceed the speed of light. By definition, the weak velocity 〈v〉w is 〈Ψfin|v|Ψin〉/〈Ψfin|Ψin〉, where v is the velocity operator and |Ψin〉 and |Ψfin〉 are, respectively, the states of a particle before and after a velocity measurement. We discuss the consistency of weak values and show that superluminal weak speed is consistent with relativistic causality. © 2002 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevA.66.042102
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevA.66.042102
PACS:
03.65.Ta, 03.65.Ca
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