Abstract
By means of the optical Bloch equations based on the atomic density matrix elements, the general expressions of the average dissipative force, dipole force and the mechanical torque acting on a Λ-configuration three-level atom in a linearly-polarized Laguerre–Gaussian beam (LGB) with an angular momentum of lℏ are derived, and the general properties of the average dissipative and dipole force on the three-level atom in the linearly-polarized LGB are analysed. We find a resonant property (with two resonant peaks) of the dissipative force and a non-resonant property (with two pairs of non-resonant peaks) of the dipole force on the three-level atom, which are completely different from those on the two-level atom. Our study also shows that all of general expressions on the three-level atom will be simplified to those on the two-level atom in the approximation of large detuning.