Initial stage of cavitation in liquids and its observation by Rayleigh scattering

A theory is developed for the initial stage of cavitation in the framework of Zel'dovich-Fisher theory of nucleation in the field of negative pressure, while taking into account the surface tension dependence on the nanopore radius. A saturation mechanism is proposed that limits the exponential dependence of the nucleation rate on the energy required to create nanopores. An estimate of the saturated density of nanopores at the nucleation stage is obtained. It is shown that Rayleigh scattering can detect nanopores arising at the initial stage of cavitation development.