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Phys. Rev. A 66, 042102 (2002) [7 pages]

Cherenkov radiation of superluminal particles

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Daniel Rohrlich1,* and Yakir Aharonov2
1Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
2School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, 69978 Tel Aviv, IsraelDepartment of Physics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208

Received 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 vw 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

*Email address: rohrlich@wicc.weizmann.ac.il