Abstract
The introduction of intense sound fields in liquids generate cavities or microbubbles that start to oscillate in the liquid under the rarefaction/compression phases of the sound wave. This phenomenon, called acoustic cavitation, is responsible for the vast majority of applications involving ultrasound and for the emission of broad wavelength light: sonoluminescence. The acoustic bubbles can be characterized by the dynamic of oscillation, the maximum temperatures and pressures reached in the interior of bubbles when they collapse and the bubble population (size and number). The literature in this field is scarce, probably due to complicated nature of the phenomena. We have recently developed a theoretical procedure for the characterization of acoustic cavitation bubbles. This procedure have been used to determine some interesting aspects of acoustic bubbles. In this review, the developed theoretical procedure and their significant results have been discussed.