A survey of some ideas for accelerators using laser light

Many suggestions have been made for accelerating particles in the intense fields associated with laser light. Those which rely on direct interaction with the laser field in vacuo (as opposed to acceleration in a plasma medium) are examined and their fundamental limitations discussed. Three schemes are considered, the first of these utilizes slow electromagnetic waves near a surface, the second relies on a fast electromagnetic wave with 'phase jumps' and the third uses parametric interaction with particles moving on a modulated orbit. (author)