Quantum Čerenkov Radiation: Spectral Cutoffs and the Role of Spin and Orbital Angular Momentum
arXiv:1411.0083 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevX.6.011006
Abstract
We show that the well-known Čerenkov Effect contains new phenomena arising from the quantum nature of charged particles. The Čerenkov transition amplitudes allow coupling between the charged particle and the emitted photon through their orbital angular momentum (OAM) and spin, by scattering into preferred angles and polarizations. Importantly, the spectral response reveals a discontinuity immediately below a frequency cutoff that can occur in the optical region. Specifically, with proper shaping of electron beams (ebeams), we predict that the traditional Čerenkov radiation angle splits into two distinctive cones of photonic shockwaves. One of the shockwaves can move along a backward cone, otherwise considered impossible for Čerenkov radiation in ordinary matter. Our findings are observable for ebeams with realistic parameters, offering new applications including novel quantum optics sources, and open a new realm for Čerenkov detectors involving the spin and orbital angular momentum of charged particles.
27 pages, 3 figures
References in corpus (4)
Cited by in corpus (30)
- Interaction of electron beams with optical nanostructures and metamaterials: From coherent photon sources towards shaping the wave function
- Spontaneous and Stimulated Emissions of Quantum Free-Electron Wavepackets - QED Analysis
- Observation of 2D Cherenkov radiation
- Elastic scattering of vortex electrons provides direct access to the Coulomb phase
- Creation of Optical Cat and GKP States Using Shaped Free Electrons
- Quantum calculation of the Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation by twisted electrons
- Efficient orbital angular momentum transfer between plasmons and free electrons
- Relativistic quantum dynamics of twisted electron beams in arbitrary electric and magnetic fields
- Position, spin and orbital angular momentum of a relativistic electron
- Tailoring the energy distribution and loss of 2D plasmons
- Spin and localization of relativistic fermions and uncertainty relations
- Shifting physics of vortex particles to higher energies via quantum entanglement
- Generation of vortex particles via generalized measurements
- Probability of radiation of twisted photons in an inhomogeneous isotropic dispersive medium
- Generation of hard twisted photons by charged particles in cholesteric liquid crystals
- Unambiguous detection of high energy vortex states via the superkick effect
- Bridging nano-optics and condensed matter formalisms in a unified description of inelastic scattering of relativistic electron beams
- Generation of relativistic positrons carrying intrinsic orbital angular momentum
- The passage of a vortex electron over an inclined grating
- Construction of Dirac spinors for electron vortex beams in background electromagnetic fields
- Proposal for the experimental observation of twisted photons in transition and Vavilov-Cherenkov radiations
- Vavilov-Cherenkov emission with a twist: a study of the final entangled state
- Giant and Broadband THz and IR Emission in Drift-biased Graphene-Based Hyperbolic Nanostructures
- Dynamics of relativistic vortex electrons in external laser fields
- Comment on: "Nonlinear quantum effects in electromagnetic radiation of a vortex electron"
- Observation of transition radiation carrying orbital angular momentum
- Accelerated-Cherenkov radiation and signatures of radiation reaction
- State-Agnostic Approach to Certifying Electron-Photon Entanglement in Electron Microscopy
- Coherent Interactions of Free Electrons and Matter: Toward Tunable Compact X-ray Sources
- Quantum direct cause across the Cherenkov threshold in circuit QED