  The effects of quantum and thermal fluctuations upon the fringe structure
predicted to be observable in the momentum distribution of coupled
Bose-Einstein condensates are studied by the effective-potential method. For a
double-well trap, the coherence factor recently introduced by Pitaevskii and
Stringari [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 180402 (2001)] is calculated using the
effective potential approach and is found in good agreement with their result.
The calculations are extended to the case of a one-dimensional array of
condensates, showing that quantum effects are essentially described through a
simple renormalization of the energy scale in the classical analytical
expression for the fringe structure. The consequences for the experimental
observability are discussed.
