On the polarization characteristics of Cherenkov radiation from a dielectric screen

Abstract

The Cherenkov effect is a well-known phenomenon and its properties are widely used in many fields of physics. However, some features of the polarization characteristics of Cherenkov radiation that appears when charged particles pass near azimuthally asymmetric, finite dielectric targets are still poorly studied. This problem is solved in this work. The polarization characteristics of Cherenkov radiation in the case of a rectangular dielectric screen are analyzed using the Stokes approach. Owing to the azimuthal asymmetry of the target, radiation acquires an elliptic polarization whose rotation direction and inclination angle depend both on the direction of radiation propagation and on the dielectric properties of a substance. The results demonstrate that the Cherenkov effect can be used to create sources of elliptically polarized radiation with the controlled direction of polarization rotation.