  We show that strong electric fields occurring in water near the surface of
collapsing gas bubbles because of the flexoelectric effect can provoke dynamic
electric breakdown in a micron-size region near the bubble and consider the
scenario of the SBSL. The scenario is: (i) at the last stage of incomplete
collapse of the bubble the gradient of pressure in water near the bubble
surface has such a value and sign that the electric field arising from the
flexoelectric effect exceeds the threshold field of the dynamic electrical
breakdown of water and is directed to the bubble center; (ii) mobile electrons
are generated because of thermal ionization of water molecules near the bubble
surface; (iii) these electrons are accelerated in ''cold'' water by the strong
electric fields; (iv) these hot electrons transfer noble gas atoms dissolved in
water to high-energy excited states and optical transitions between these
states produce SBSL UV flashes in the trasparency window of water; (v) the
breakdown can be repeated several times and the power and duration of the UV
flash are determined by the multiplicity of the breakdowns. The SBSL spectrum
is found to resemble a black-body spectrum where temperature is given by the
effective temperature of the hot electrons. The pulse energy and some other
characteristics of the SBSL are found to be in agreement with the experimental
data when realistic estimations are made.
