We study the motion of a vortex under the influence of a harmonic force in an
approximately two dimensional trapped Bose-condensed gas. The
Hall-Vinen-Iordanskii equations, modified to include a fluctuational force and
an inertial mass term, are solved for the vortex motion. The mass of the vortex
has a strong influence on the time it takes the vortex to escape the trap.
Since the vortex mass also depends on the trap size we have an additional
dependence on the trap size in the escape time which we compare to the massless
case.Comment: Submitted to J. Low. Temp. Phy