Abstract
Characteristics of the initial condensate in the recent experiment on Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of (87)Rb atoms in an anisotropic magnetic trap are discussed. Given the aspect ratio R, the quality of BEC is estimated. A simple analytical ansatz for the initial condensate wave function is proposed as a function of the aspect ratio which, in contrast to the Baym-Pethick trial wave function, can be used for any interaction strength, reproduces both the weak and the strong interaction limits, and which is in better agreement with numerical results than the latter.