A COSMIC-RAY-DOMINATED INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM IN ULTRA LUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXIES: NEW INITIAL CONDITIONS FOR STAR FORMATION
A COSMIC-RAY-DOMINATED INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM IN ULTRA LUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXIES: NEW INITIAL CONDITIONS FOR STAR FORMATION
The high-density star formation typical of the merger/starburst events that power the large IR luminosities of Ultra Luminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs) (L_{IR}>10^{12}Lsol) throughout the Universe results to extraordinarily high cosmic ray (CR) energy densities of U_CR~(few)x(10^3--10^4)U_{CR,Gal} permeating their interstellar medium (ISM), a direct consequence of the large supernovae remnants (SNRs) …