Light-induced instability of drops in a standing wave field

It is shown that in a standing wave field any spatial inhomogeneity of a gas mixture gives rise to light-induced mass transfer (provided the external field is in resonance with one of the gas components). An equation describing processes of this kind is derived. The theory is applied, by way of example, to a light-induced instability of drops which is manifested by the feasibility of control of their growth or evaporation, depending on the frequency of the external field.