Radiation Pressure Supported Starburst Galaxies & The Fueling of Active
  Galactic Nuclei
  Radiation pressure from the absorption and scattering of starlight by dust
grains may be a crucial feedback mechanism in starburst galaxies and the
self-gravitating parsec-scale disks that accompany the fueling of active
galactic nuclei. I review the case for radiation pressure in both
optically-thin and highly optically-thick contexts. I describe the conditions
for which Eddington-limited star formation yields a characteristic flux of
~10^{13} L_sun/kpc^2, and I discuss the physical circumstances for which the
flux from radiation pressure supported disks is below or above this value. In
particular, I describe the young stellar disk on ~0.1 pc scales at the Galactic
Center. I argue that its bolometric flux at formation, ~10^{15} L_sun/kpc^2,
and the observed stellar mass and scale height imply that the disk may have
been radiation pressure supported during formation.
