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Momentum distributions and probabilities of near-axis superkicks

Wiam Al-Drees*, Omar M. Aldossary, and Vasileios E. Lembessis

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

  • *Contact author: waaldrees@imamu.edu.sa
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Phys. Rev. A 114, 033103 – Published 4 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/hs7h-ftl9

Abstract

We present a purely theoretical, fully analytical momentum-space description of “superkick” momentum transfer to a two-level atom driven by a tightly focused, circularly polarized Laguerre-Gaussian vortex beam. Using the short-time excitation amplitude ψe(r,t)∝Ez(r)ψg(r) and an exact Fourier-transform treatment in the near-focus regime, we derive closed-form expressions for the excited-state wave function ψ̃e(K) and its momentum distribution |ψ̃e(K)|2. This framework yields direct superkick diagnostics such as peak displacement and transverse-momentum moments, and enables a systematic comparison between opposite-handedness and same-handedness configurations, as well as a paraxial reference case. We show that tight focusing, through the longitudinal-field enhancement, strongly increases the near-axis excitation and makes superkick signatures most prominent in the opposite-handedness configuration, whereas the same-handedness and paraxial reference cases retain related transverse superkick structure but carry much smaller near-axis probability weight.

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Phys. Rev. A 114, 033103– Published 4 September, 2026
  • Received 17 May 2026
  • Accepted 24 August 2026
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