Lawson–Woodward theorem
Physics theorem
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Lawson–Woodward theorem is a physics theorem about particle acceleration with electromagnetic wave.[1] It was developed by scientists John D. Lawson and P. M. Woodward in the 1940s.[2][3][4] This theorem roughly states that an electromagnetic plane wave can not provide a net acceleration to an ultra-relativistic charged particle in vacuum. This is a theoretical limitation to particle acceleration, especially for laser-based electron accelerator.[5] Any laser-based particle accelerator should then break at least one of the hypotheses of the Lawson–Woodward theorem to be physically possible.[5]
