1904- . Soviet physicist. In 1934 he
discovered Cherenkov radiation; this occurs
as a bluish light when charged atomic
particles pass through water or other media
at a speed in excess of that of light. He
shared a Nobel prize 1958 with his colleagues
Ilya Frank and Igor Tamm. Cherenkov
discovered that this effect was independent
of any medium and depended for its production
on the passage of high velocity electrons.