Analytical solutions of the Rayleigh equation for empty and gas--filled bubble

The Rayleigh equation for bubble dynamics is widely used. However, analytical solutions of this equation have not been obtained previously. Here we find closed--form general solutions of the Rayleigh equation both for an empty and gas--filled spherical bubble. We present an approach allowing us to construct exact solutions of the Rayleigh equation. We show that our solutions are useful for testing numerical algorithms.