Particle acceleration by an electromagnetic wave (Q2396954)

Summary: The relativistic equation of motion for an electrically charged massive point particle is integrated exactly for the case of a circularly polarized electromagnetic plane wave. The acceleration of the particle by the wave is calculated in detail, however, under neglection of the radiation damping. In spite of this simplification, the results are applied to a typical pulsar, where the maximum kinetic energy of accelerated protons reaches values of the order of the fastest cosmic ray particles.