The Galactic Center Cloud G0.253+0.016: A Massive Dense Cloud with low
  Star Formation Potential
  We present the first interferometric molecular line and dust emission maps
for the Galactic Center (GC) cloud G0.253+0.016, observed using the Combined
Array for Research in Millimeter--wave Astronomy (CARMA) and the Submillimeter
Array (SMA). This cloud is very dense, and concentrates a mass exceeding the
Orion Molecular Cloud Complex (2x10^5 M_sun) into a radius of only 3pc, but it
is essentially starless. G0.253+0.016 therefore violates "star formation laws"
presently used to explain trends in galactic and extragalactic star formation
by a factor ~45. Our observations show a lack of dense cores of significant
mass and density, thus explaining the low star formation activity. Instead,
cores with low densities and line widths 1km/s---probably the narrowest lines
reported for the GC region to date---are found. Evolution over several 10^5 yr
is needed before more massive cores, and possibly an Arches--like stellar
cluster, could form. Given the disruptive dynamics of the GC region, and the
potentially unbound nature of G0.253+0.016, it is not clear that this evolution
will happen.
