We investigate the thermodynamic stability of quantized vortices in a dilut
e Bose gas confined by a rotating harmonic trap at finite temperature. Inte
ratomic forces play a crucial role in characterizing the resulting phase di
agram, especially in the large N Thomas-Fermi regime. We show that the crit
ical temperature for the creation of stable vortices exhibits a maximum as
a function of the frequency of the rotating trap, and that the correspondin
g transition is associated with a discontinuity in the number of atoms in t
he condensate. Possible strategies for approaching the vortical region are
discussed. [S0031-9007(99)09252-2].