We characterize several equilibrium vortex effects in a rotating
Bose-Einstein condensate. Specifically we attempt precision measurements of
vortex lattice spacing and the vortex core size over a range of condensate
densities and rotation rates. These measurements are supplemented by numerical
simulations, and both experimental and numerical data are compared to theory
predictions of Sheehy and Radzihovsky [17] (cond-mat/0402637) and Baym and
Pethick [25] (cond-mat/0308325). Finally, we study the effect of the
centrifugal weakening of the trapping spring constants on the critical
temperature for quantum degeneracy and the effects of finite temperature on
vortex contrast.Comment: Fixed minor notational inconsistencies in figures. 12 pages, 8
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