Spin-polarization effects in Cherenkov radiation from electrons

Abstract

A quantum electrodynamical theory of Cherenkov radiation emitted by spin-polarized electrons moving in an isotropic medium is developed within the density matrix framework. Special attention is paid to the polarization properties of the emitted photons described by means of Stokes parameters. It is demonstrated that, although the Cherenkov radiation is primarily linearly polarized in the plane containing the direction of observation and the path of the electrons, the photons may have a small component of circular polarization of the order of 3 × 10−6 for electron kinetic energy of 500 keV due to the initial electron spin polarization, whose existence can be confirmed by sensitive measurements in the future.