Cherenkov, Pavel Alekseyevich 1904-90
Soviet physicist and Nobel Prize winner

He was born in Voronezh in western Russia and educated at Voronezh University and the Soviet Academy of Sciences. In 1934 he observed blue light emission from water bombarded by gamma rays. This so-called 'Cherenkov effect' was explained by Igor Tamm and Ilya Frank as being produced by particles travelling through a medium at velocities greater than the speed of light in that medium. The three shared the Nobel Prize for physics in 1958. The principle was adapted in constructing a cosmic-ray counter mounted in the Sputnik III satellite, and has become important as an identification tool in high-energy particle experiments. Cherenkov also contributed to the development and construction of electron accelerators, and to the study of the interactions of photons with nuclei and mesons. He became a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences in 1964 and a full member in 1970.