The scattering of an atom in the field of counterpropagating light waves is studied under conditions such that the state of the atom is a superposition of the ground and excited states. For the case in which this superposition is created by the field of a traveling wave, the momentum distribution function of the atom after scattering by a standing wave is found analytically in the approximation of a short interaction time, when the atom's motion can be neglected. Longer interactions of the atom with the field are studied numerically. We also consider the case of counterpropagating light waves consisting of Gaussian or supergaussian pulses.
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