  We present a detailed theoretical analysis of Bragg spectroscopy from a
Bose-Einstein condensate at T=0K. We demonstrate that within the linear
response regime, both a quantum field theory treatment and a meanfield
Gross-Pitaevskii treatment lead to the same value for the mean evolution of the
quasiparticle operators. The observable for Bragg spectroscopy experiments,
which is the spectral response function of the momentum transferred to the
condensate, can therefore be calculated in a meanfield formalism. We analyse
the behaviour of this observable by carrying out numerical simulations in
axially symmetric three-dimensional cases and in two dimensions. An approximate
analytic expression for the observable is obtained and provides a means for
identifying the relative importance of three broadening and shift mechanisms
(meanfield, Doppler, and finite pulse duration) in different regimes. We show
that the suppression of scattering at small values of q observed by
Stamper-Kurn et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 2876 (1999)] is accounted for by the
meanfield treatment, and can be interpreted in terms of the interference of the
u and v quasiparticle amplitudes. We also show that, contrary to the
assumptions of previous analyses, there is no regime for trapped condensates
for which the spectral response function and the dynamic structure factor are
equivalent. Our numerical calculations can also be performed outside the linear
response regime, and show that at large laser intensities a significant
decrease in the shift of the spectral response function can occur due to
depletion of the initial condensate.
