Abstract
Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) light modes with large values of the radial index p and the azimuthal index l are considered. We give special emphasis on the mechanical effects on atoms arising from the Gouy phase and the phase due to the curvature of such light. It is shown that the additional phase terms for highly twisted light can lead to mechanical effects based on the substantial reduction of the axial wavenumber. As a consequence, axial recoil effects are diminished in the processes of stimulated emission and absorption of the light by the atoms. Both the scattering force and the momentum diffusion are affected by the inclusion of these normally ignored additional phase terms. The magnitudes of the effects are explored using order of magnitude analysis with typical parameters due to the atoms and the light.