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We all know there's serious pitfalls on the road to creating a functional lightsaber such as the ones in Star Wars.

Let's assume it is possible, what would be the technical difficulties and their potential solutions in the realm of current physics?

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Given that lightsabers are fictional, doesn't that make this question ill-defined? One might as well ask for a physical explanation for the Force. – Greg P Dec 8 '11 at 20:45
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I agree with Greg; questions about fictional devices and phenomena far removed from modern science are generally considered off topic here. But it depends on how you ask the question. If you postulate some design with which one might try to build a lightsaber, it may be fine to ask why it wouldn't work. For example, suppose a lightsaber is made with plasma, and ask about the difficulties of containing plasma in a cylindrical region. On the other hand, saying "Let's assume it is possible" when referring to something that is not possible is not appropriate for this site. – David Zaslavsky♦ Dec 8 '11 at 22:41
To put it another way, the main technical difficulty is that we wouldn't have the faintest idea where to start. – Harry Johnston Dec 9 '11 at 2:28
The only two things that we lack to create lightsaber are: 1) plasma beam generators (yes, lightsabers are plasma swords, not "laser" swords) 2) force field generators. – Griwes Jun 3 '12 at 13:29

closed as off topic by David Zaslavsky♦ Dec 8 '11 at 22:42

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