  This is a less technical presentation of the ideas in quant-ph/9804035 [Phys
Rev Lett 83 (1999), 1707-1710]. A second order phase transition induced by a
rapid quench can lock out topological defects with densities far exceeding
their equilibrium expectation values. This phenomenon is a generic prediction
of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, and can appear in a wide range of
physical systems. We discuss it qualitatively in the context of trapped dilute
Bose-Einstein condensates, outline a simple quantitative theory based on the
time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation, and briefly compare the results of
quantum kinetic theory.
