Pavel A. Cherenkov
Biography
Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov was born in Voronezh Region on July 28,
1904. His parents, Aleksei and Mariya Cerenkov, were peasants. He graduated
from the Physico-Mathematical Faculty of Voronezh State University in
1928, and in 1930 he took a post as senior scientific officer in the P.N.
Lebedev Institute of Physics in the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences. He was
promoted to section leader, and in 1940 he was awarded the degree of Doctor
in Physico-Mathematical Sciences. In 1953 he was confirmed in the academic
rank of Professor of Experimental Physics, and since 1959 he has controlled
the photo-meson processes laboratory. He has taught in institutes for
higher learning for fourteen years.
It was in 1934, whilst he was working under S.I. Vavilov, that
Cerenkov observed the emission of blue light from a bottle of
water subjected to radioactive bombardment. This "Cerenkov
effect", associated with charged atomic particles moving at
velocities higher than the speed of light, proved to be of great
importance in subsequent experimental work in nuclear physics and
for the study of cosmic rays. The Cerenkov detector has become a
standard piece of equipment in atomic research for observing the
existence and velocity of high-speed particles, and the device
was installed in Sputnik III. He has shared in the work of
development and construction of electron accelerators and in
investigations of photo-nuclear and photo-meson reactions.
Cerenkov was awarded State Prizes in 1946 (with Vavilov, Frank,
and Tamm) and in 1951.
In 1930 he married Marya Putintseva, daughter of A.M. Putintsev,
Professor of Russian Literature. They have a son, Aleksei, and a
daughter, Elena.
From Nobel Lectures, Physics 1942-1962, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1964
This autobiography/biography was first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.
Pavel A. Cherenkov died on January 6, 1990.
Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1958