A brief account is given of P.A. Cherenkov's Voronezh years, a period during which the future Nobel Laureate in Physics attended a school (in a near-Voronezh village of Novaya Chigla) and studied at Voronezh State University. The history of the serendipitous discovery of radiation which was to be named after him is described and its importance for modern science is discussed. Possible modern approaches are considered to explaining — without using the concept of "cold nuclear synthesis" — some other unexpected experimental results on the nonthermonuclear fusion of light nuclei stimulated by electron beams and by laser and gamma radiation.
110th anniversary of the birth of P.A. Cherenkov (Scientific session of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 17 December 2014)

Keywords: Novaya Chigla, Voronezh State University, Cherenkov radiation, Nobel Prize, serendipitous discoveries, fusion reactions, neutronium PACS: 01.60.+q, 01.65.+g, 25.60.Pj (all) DOI: 10.3367/UFNe.0185.201505g.0507 URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2015/5/f/ 000360073200006 2-s2.0-84938861165 2015PhyU...58..472K Citation: Kadmensky S G "Cherenkov radiation as a serendipity phenomenon" Phys. Usp. 58 472–479 (2015) BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks Received: 1st, January 2015, accepted: 17th, December 2014 Оригинал: Кадменский С Г «Излучение Черенкова как феномен неожиданных открытий» УФН 185 507–514 (2015); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0185.201505g.0507 P.A. Cherenkov and P.A. Cerenkov are authors of Physics-Uspekhi