We investigate the possibility of stochastic acceleration of backgroun
d low-energy electrons by turbulent plasma waves. We consider the reso
nant interaction of the charged particles with all branches of the tra
nsverse plasma waves propagating parallel to a uniform magnetic field.
Numerical results and asymptotic analytic solutions valid at nonrelat
ivistic and ultrarelativistic energies are obtained for the accelerati
on and scattering times of electrons. These times have a strong depend
ence on plasma parameter alpha = omega(pe)/Omega(e) (the ratio of elec
tron plasma frequency to electron gyrofrequency) and on the spectral i
ndex of plasma turbulence. It is shown that particles with energies ab
ove a certain critical value may interact with higher frequency electr
omagnetic plasma waves, and this interaction is allowed only in plasma
s with alpha < 1. We show that for nonrelativistic and semirelativisti
c electrons in low-alpha plasmas, the ratio of the acceleration time t
o the scattering time can be less than unity for a wide range of energ
ies. From this we conclude that the transport equation derived for cos
mic rays that requires this ratio to be much larger than unity is not
applicable at these energies. An approximate ''critical'' value of par
ticle energy above which the dynamics of charged particles may be desc
ribed by this transport equation is determined as a function of plasma
parameters. We propose new transport equation for the opposite limit
(energies less than this critical value) when the acceleration rate is
much faster than the pitch angle scattering rate. This equation is ne
eded to describe the electron dynamics in plasmas with alpha less than
or similar to 0.1.