The importance of the Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation stems from the
property that a charge moving uniformly in a medium emits ? quanta at
the angle uniquely related to its energy. This has numerous
applications. We mention only the neutrino experiments in which the
neutrino energy is estimated by the angle at which the electron
originating from the decay of neutrino is observed. This book is
intended for students of the third year and higher, for postgraduates,
and professional scientists, both experimentalists and th- reticians.
The Landau and Lifschitz treatisesQuantumMechanics, Clas- cal Field
Theory andElectrodynamicsofContinuousMedia are more than enough for the
understanding of the text. There are three monographs devoted to the
Vavilov-Cherenkov rad- tion. Jelly's book Cherenkov Radiation and its
Applications published in 1958 contains a short theoretical review of
the Vavilov-Cherenkov ra- ation and a rather extensive description of
experimental technique. Ten years later, the two-volume Zrelov monograph
Vavilov-Cherenkov Rad- tionandItsApplicationinHigh-EnergyPhysics
appeared. Its ?rst volume
isaquiteextensivereviewofexperimentalandtheoreticalresultsknownup
to1968.ThesecondvolumeisdevotedtotheconstructionoftheCherenkov
counters.In1988, theFrankmonographVavilov-CherenkovRadiation.T- oretical
Aspects was published. It presents mainly a collection of Frank's papers
with valuable short commentaries describing their present status. It is
highly desirable to translate this book into English.