  Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) prompt emission can, for specific conditions, be so
powerful and short-pulsed to strongly influence any surrounding plasma. In this
paper, we briefly discuss the possibility that a very intense initial burst of
radiation produced by GRBs satisfy the intensity and temporal conditions to
cause stochastic wake-field particle acceleration in a surrounding plasma of
moderate density. Recent laboratory experiments clearly indicate that powerful
laser beam pulses of tens of femtosecond duration hitting on target plasmas
cause efficient particle acceleration and betatron radiation up to tens of MeV.
We consider a simple but realistic GRB model for which particle wake-field
acceleration can first be excited by a very strong low-energy precursor, and
then be effective in producing the observed prompt X-ray and gamma-ray GRB
emission. We also briefly discuss some of the consequences of this novel GRB
emission mechanism.
