This proposal calls for the study of the process of acoustic cavitation and the accompanying emission of electromagnetic radiation. The light observed in this process is called sonoluminescence. In the process of propagating acoustic waves through a liquid containing microscopic cavitation can be violent enough to damage even hardened materials, and the effective temperature within the bubbles can reach thousands of degrees. There is a lack of knowledge of the physical and chemical processes occurring in these processes. However recent studies have produced conditions wherein a single, stable cavitation bubble is observed to generate sonoluminescence every cycle. "Temperatures" associated with these bubbles appear to reach levels near 100,000K and the electromagnetic emissions inexplicably achieve a level of synchronity that is repetitive to within a part 1011. The duration of these synchronous pulses is less that 50 ps. Several technological applications of this process have been suggested. This proposal is for the study of the basic physics of this process.
