The recoil effect in a strong electromagnetic field

The recoil effect in a strong resonance field of a standing electromagnetic wave has been studied. In order to find the response to the external field (the induced dipole momentum) it is necessary to take into account the variations in the motion of the atoms in this field: the response and the energy spectrum of the atoms are determined from the system of wave equations for the multi-level atoms. The problem of a weak signal absorption in the presence of a strong standing wave which is in resonance with the adjacent transition, is solved. In this case the contour of the absorption line is shown to diverge into two wide bands, their width being proportional to the strong field amplitude. The contribution of continuous and discrete states of the atoms in a standing wave field has been found.