Transition Radiation from Relativistic Charged Particles and Its Energy Dependence

Abstract

Transition radiation in the optical region of the spectrum from individual charged pions and protons in the momentum region of 0.8 to 3.5 BeV/c was obtained from a stack of thin metal foils spaced uniformly in vacuum. The radiation was observed simultaneously in the forward and in the backward directions, with a forward-to-backward intensity ratio of the order of 8 to 1. A logarithmic increase in the intensity of the transition radiation with the total energy of the particle is found in the momentum region of the present investigation.