  Using a variational ansatz for the wave function of the Bose-Einstein
condensate, we develop a quantum theory of vortices and quadrupole modes in a
one-dimensional optical lattice. We study the coupling between the quadrupole
modes and Kelvin modes, which turns out to be formally analogous to the theory
of parametric processes in quantum optics. This leads to the possibility of
squeezing vortices. We solve the quantum multimode problem for the Kelvin modes
and quadrupole modes numerically and find properties that cannot be explained
with a simple linear-response theory.
