  We study the Josephson oscillations of two coupled elongated condensates.
Linearized calculations show that the oscillating mode uniform over the length
of the condensates (uniform Josephson mode) is unstable : modes of non zero
longitudinal momentum grow exponentially. In the limit of strong atom
interactions, we give scaling laws for the instability time constant and
unstable wave vectors. Beyond the linearized approach, numerical calculations
show a damped recurrence behavior : the energy in the Josephson mode presents
damped oscillations. Finally, we derive conditions on the confinement of the
condensates to prevent instabilities.
