  Numerical simulations of the interference of a three-way segmented
nonrotating Bose-Einstein condensate reveal the production of a honeycomb
vortex lattice containing significant numbers of vortices and antivortices. If
confined within a trap, the lattice subsequently melts, exhibiting a rich
assortment of vortex-antivortex interactions. In contrast with nonlinear vortex
production mechanisms previously described for Bose-Einstein condensates, the
process here is shown to be primarily one of linear superposition, with initial
vortex locations approximately described by a linear theory of wave packet
interference.
