TY - JOUR T1 - `Flat Phase' Loading of a Bose-Einstein Condensate into an Optical Lattice JF - Physical Review A Y1 - 2002 A1 - Shlomo E. Sklarz A1 - Inbal Friedler A1 - David J. Tannor A1 - Yehuda B. Band A1 - Carl J. Williams AB - It has been proposed that the adiabatic loading of a Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) into an optical lattice via the Mott-insulator transition can be used to initialize a quantum computer [D. Jaksch, {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 81}, 3108 (1998)]. The loading of a BEC into the lattice without causing band excitation is readily achievable; however, unless one switches on an optical lattice very slowly, the optical lattice causes a phase to accumulate across the condensate. We show analytically and numerically that a cancellation of this effect is possible by adjusting the harmonic trap force-constant of the magnetic trap appropriately, thereby facilitating quick loading of an optical lattice for quantum computing purposes. A simple analytical theory is developed for a non-stationary BEC in a harmonic trap. VL - 66 UR - http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0209071v1 CP - 5 J1 - Phys. Rev. A U5 - 10.1103/PhysRevA.66.053620 ER -