MECHANISMS FOR STABLE SINGLE BUBBLE SONOLUMINESCENCE

A gas bubble trapped in water by an oscillating acoustic field is expe cted to either shrink or grow on a diffusive time scale, depending on the forcing strength and the bubble size. At high ambient gas concentr ation this has long been observed. However, recent sonoluminescence ex periments show that when the ambient gas concentration is low the bubb le can be stable for days. This paper discusses mechanisms leading to stability.