Turbulence sets the initial conditions for star formation in
  high-pressure environments
  Despite the simplicity of theoretical models of supersonically turbulent,
isothermal media, their predictions successfully match the observed gas
structure and star formation activity within low-pressure (P/k < 10^5 K cm^-3)
molecular clouds in the solar neighbourhood. However, it is unknown if these
theories extend to clouds in high-pressure (P/k > 10^7 K cm^-3) environments,
like those in the Galaxy's inner 200 pc Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) and in the
early Universe. Here we present ALMA 3mm dust continuum emission within a
cloud, G0.253+0.016, which is immersed in the high-pressure environment of the
CMZ. While the log-normal shape and dispersion of its column density PDF is
strikingly similar to those of solar neighbourhood clouds, there is one
important quantitative difference: its mean column density is 1--2 orders of
magnitude higher. Both the similarity and difference in the PDF compared to
those derived from solar neighbourhood clouds match predictions of turbulent
cloud models given the high-pressure environment of the CMZ. The PDF shows a
small deviation from log-normal at high column densities confirming the youth
of G0.253+0.016. Its lack of star formation is consistent with the
theoretically predicted, environmentally dependent volume density threshold for
star formation which is orders of magnitude higher than that derived for solar
neighbourhood clouds. Our results provide the first empirical evidence that the
current theoretical understanding of molecular cloud structure derived from the
solar neighbourhood also holds in high-pressure environments. We therefore
suggest that these theories may be applicable to understand star formation in
the early Universe.
