  We study both experimentally and theoretically the losses induced by
parametric excitation in far-off-resonance optical lattices. The atoms confined
in a 1D sinusoidal lattice present an excitation spectrum and dynamics
substantially different from those expected for a harmonic potential. We
develop a model based on the actual atomic Hamiltonian in the lattice and we
introduce semiempirically a broadening of the width of lattice energy bands
which can physically arise from inhomogeneities and fluctuations of the
lattice, and also from atomic collisions. The position and strength of the
parametric resonances and the evolution of the number of trapped atoms are
satisfactorily described by our model.
