  We develop a stochastic Gross-Pitaveskii theory suitable for the study of
Bose-Einstein condensation in a {\em rotating} dilute Bose gas. The theory is
used to model the dynamical and equilibrium properties of a rapidly rotating
Bose gas quenched through the critical point for condensation, as in the
experiment of Haljan et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett., 87, 21043 (2001)]. In contrast
to stirring a vortex-free condensate, where topological constraints require
that vortices enter from the edge of the condensate, we find that phase defects
in the initial non-condensed cloud are trapped en masse in the emerging
condensate. Bose-stimulated condensate growth proceeds into a disordered vortex
configuration. At sufficiently low temperature the vortices then order into a
regular Abrikosov lattice in thermal equilibrium with the rotating cloud. We
calculate the effect of thermal fluctuations on vortex ordering in the final
gas at different temperatures, and find that the BEC transition is accompanied
by lattice melting associated with diminishing long range correlations between
vortices across the system.
