Analogues of Vavilov–Cherenkov radiation in an array of noninteracting nanotubes

We consider the mechanism for generating radiation whose source is formed by surface currents modulated in the variable $z-vt$ in an array of noninteracting parallel nanotubes. The nanotubes are oriented perpendicular to the axis $Oz$, and the velocity $v$ exceeds the velocity of light in the medium. On the qualitative level, the radiation process under study is analogous to Vavilov–Cherenkov radiation by a system of dipoles. We show that intense SHF and THz radiation can be generated using this method. We estimate the magnitude of millimetric radiation obtainable using an array of nanotubes.