Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 October 2008
Multiline 12CO and 13CO measurements of a large sample ofgalaxy centers reveal the physical conditions of the pronouncedcentral molecular gas concentrations in spiral galaxies. Themolecular gas occurs in at least two components: hot and relativelytenuous, dense and relatively cool. Most of the gas mass is in theformer component. Molecular gas is strongly concentrated within in afew hundred parsec from the nucleus, but the central few dozen parsecsare frequently gas-poor. The CO-to-H2 conversion factor is threeto ten times lower in galaxy centers than in the Milky Way disk.