Sonic boom doesn't explain what causes sound only how it piles up.
Similarily I don't see how it explains the glow. Photons get generated regardless of whether they pile up or not. It's a consequence of particles bumping into atoms not the whatever speed of light might be in this medium.
Very shortly summarized, only if the particle is faster than the local speed of light, you get constructive interference between many atoms that were polarized by the moving particle.
For a slower than light particle, you also get emission, but it is completely random and thus does not give the well defined emission in a cone of Cherenkov radiation.
For a faster than light particle, the spherical suddenly line up to form a cone:
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I think a common analogy is that this is a bit like the sonic boom when something travels faster than sound in that medium.
Sonic boom doesn't explain what causes sound only how it piles up.
Similarily I don't see how it explains the glow. Photons get generated regardless of whether they pile up or not. It's a consequence of particles bumping into atoms not the whatever speed of light might be in this medium.
How is piling up important?
Very shortly summarized, only if the particle is faster than the local speed of light, you get constructive interference between many atoms that were polarized by the moving particle.
For a slower than light particle, you also get emission, but it is completely random and thus does not give the well defined emission in a cone of Cherenkov radiation.
For a faster than light particle, the spherical suddenly line up to form a cone:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation#/media/Fil...
Thank you. That's a very good explanation.