  The features of the scattering of massive neutral particles propagating in
the field of a gravitational plane wave are compared with those characterizing
their interaction with an electromagnetic radiation field. The motion is
geodesic in the former case, whereas in the case of an electromagnetic pulse it
is accelerated by the radiation field filling the associated spacetime region.
The interaction with the radiation field is modeled by a force term entering
the equations of motion proportional to the 4-momentum density of radiation
observed in the particle's rest frame. The corresponding classical scattering
cross sections are evaluated too.
