Observational Study of Mass Function in Large Magellanic Molecular cloud

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In order to understand the formation process of populous stellar clusters in the Magellanic Clouds, we have carried out the most extensive observations of molecular clouds by using the 4 m mm-wave telescope. NANTEN, installed at Las Campanas. These observations have covered the Large Magellanic Cloud fully at a linear resolutions of 40 pc, in the ^<12>C0 (J=1-0) emission at 2.6 mm wavelength. The main results are summarized as follows ;(1) There are more than 100 giant molecular clouds. Their mass ranges from l0^5 M<of sun> to 2 \ 10^6 M<of sun>.(2) The line intensity of CO emission in the Large Magellanic Cloud is smaller by a factor of 3 than that in the Galaxy for giant molecular clouds having a similar mass.(3) For the 55 giant molecular clouds significantly detected, we find that they are spatially well correlated with the youngest stellar clusters with < 10 Myr (26 of 55).(4) By comparing the molecular clouds with their associated HII regions, we find giant molecular clouds are rapidly dissipated after formation of stellar clusters.Total molecular mass is calculated as 4-7 \ 10^6 M<of sun>, corresponding to * 10 % of the neutral hydrogen mass.