An important part of condensed matter physics in recent years has involved detailed study of inelastic interactions between swift electrons and condensed matter surfaces. Here we will review some aspects of such interactions.Surface excitations have long been recognized as dominant in determining the exchange-correlation energy of charged particles outside the surface. Properties of surface and bulk polaritons, plasmons and optical phonons in plane-bounded and spherical systems will be discussed from the viewpoint of semiclassical and quantal dielectric theory. Plasmons at interfaces between dissimilar dielectrics and in superlattice configurations will also be considered.
