INERT-GAS ACCUMULATION IN SONOLUMINESCING BUBBLES

In this paper we elaborate on the idea [Lohse et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 1359-1362 (1997)] that (single) sonoluminescing air bubbles recti fy argon. The reason for the rectification is that nitrogen and oxygen dissociate and their reaction products dissolve in water. We give fur ther experimental and theoretical evidence and extend the theory to ot her gas mixtures. We show that in the absence of chemical reactions (e .g., for inert gas mixtures) gas accumulation in strongly acoustically driven bubbles can also occur. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics . [S0021-9606(97)51241-4].