Giant molecular clouds in NGC4526 based on ^12^CO

These may be due to higher interstellar radiation field than in the Milky Way disk and weaker external pressure than in the Galactic center. In addition, a kinematic measurement of cloud rotation shows that the rotation is driven by the galactic shear. For the vast majority of the clouds, the rotational energy is less than the turbulent and gravitational energy, while the four innermost clouds are unbound and will likely be torn apart by the strong shear at the galactic center.

We combine our data with the archival data of other galaxies to show that the surface density {Sigma} of GMCs is not approximately constant, as previously believed, but varies by ~3 orders of magnitude. We also show that the size and velocity dispersion of the GMC population across galaxies are related to the surface density, as expected from the gravitational and pressure equilibrium, i.e., {sigma}_v_R^-1/2^{propto}{Sigma}^1/2^.