Cherenkov emission in a nanowire material

We study the Cherenkov emission in the vicinity (or within) a nanowire metamaterial, and demonstrate that due to the anomalously high density of electromagnetic states in such structures, it is possible to boost the Cherenkov emission by several orders of magnitude as compared to natural media, and produce Cherenkov radiation with no threshold for the velocity of the charged particles. PACS: 41.60.Bq, 42.70.Qs, 41.20.Jb, 41.60.Cr * To whom correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: mario.silveirinha@co.it.pt