  High-resolution, CO(1-0) interferometry of the ultraluminous infrared galaxy
IRAS 14348-1447 is presented. The merger system has a molecular gas mass of
\~3x10^10 solar masses and a projected nuclear separation of 4.8 kpc (3.5"),
making it one of the most molecular gas-rich galaxies known and an ideal
candidate for studying the intermediate stages of an ultraluminous merger
event. The CO morphology shows two molecular gas components associated with the
stellar nuclei of the progenitors, consistent with the idea that the molecular
disks are gravitationally bound by the dense bulges of the progenitor galaxies
as the interaction proceeds. In contrast, less luminous infrared galaxies
observed to date with projected nuclear separations of ~<5 kpc show a dominant
CO component between the stellar nuclei. This discrepancy may be an indication
that the progenitors of mergers with lower infrared luminosity do not possess
massive bulges, and that the gas is stripped during the initial encounter of
their progenitors. A comparison of the CO and radio luminosities of the NE and
SW component show them to have comparable radio and CO flux ratios of
f(NE)/f(SW) ~0.6, possibly indicating that the amount of star-forming molecular
gas in the progenitors is correlated with the supernovae rate. The estimate of
molecular gas masses of the nuclei and the extent of the radio emission are
used to infer that the nuclei of IR 14348-1447 have gas densities comparable to
the cores of elliptical galaxies.

Astrophysics