Percussoluminescence

The phenomenon of light emission from a bubble driven to collapse via ultrasound has a long history of study. Light emission is widely believed to occur due to the formation of plasma within the bubble during the final moment of collapse and one important focus of the literature has been on understanding the exact thermodynamic conditions created. There are, however, other phenomena that demonstrate a similar light emission, including but not limited to other types of bubble collapse. This paper examines light emission in seeming disparate phenomena and discovers that a common thread exists. The terminology and fundamental theory appropriate for sonoluminescence is found to be decreasingly relevant and a new term, percussoluminescence (PCL), is established. This is substantiated through the presentation of a 1D theory, detailed numerical simulation and illustrative experimental results. The implications of this new perspective are explored.