  We present the results of a high angular resolution, multi-transition
analysis of the molecular gas in M82. The analysis is based on the two lowest
transitions of 12CO and the ground transition of the rare isotopes 13CO and
C18O measured with the PdBI, the BIMA array and the IRAM 30m telescope. In
order to address the question of how the intrinsic molecular cloud properties
are influenced by massive star formation we have carried out radiative transfer
calculations based on the observed CO line ratios. The calculations suggest
that the kinetic temperature of the molecular gas is high in regions with
strong star formation and drops towards the outer molecular lobes with less
ongoing star formation. The location of the highest kinetic temperature is
coincident with that of the mid infrared peaks which trace emission from hot
dust. The hot gas is associated with low H2 densities while the cold gas in the
outer molecular lobes has high H2 densities. We find that CO intensities do not
trace H2 column densities well. Most of the molecular gas is distributed in a
double-lobed distribution which surrounds the starburst. A detailed analysis of
the conversion factor from CO intensity to H2 column density shows that X_CO
depends on the excitation conditions. We find X_CO ~ Sqrt(n_H2)/T_kin, as
expected for virialized clouds.
