  The mode structure of a Bose-Einstein condensate non-adiabatically loaded
into a one-dimensional optical lattice is studied by analyzing the visibility
of the interference pattern as well as the radial profile of the condensate
after a time-of-flight. A simple model is proposed that predicts the short-time
decrease of the visibility as a function of the condensate parameters. In the
radial direction, heavily damped oscillations are observed, as well as an
increase in the condensate temperature. These findings are interpreted as a
re-thermalization due to dissipation of the initial condensate excitations into
high-lying modes.
