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We present a kinematic study of the nuclear stellar disk in M31 at infraredwavelengths using high spatial resolution integral field spectroscopy. Thespatial resolution achieved, FWHM = 0."12 (0.45 pc at the distance of M31), hasonly previously been equaled in spectroscopic studies by space-based long-slitobservations. Using adaptive optics-corrected integral field spectroscopy fromthe OSIRIS instrument at the W. M. Keck Observatory, we map the line-of-sightkinematics over the entire old stellar eccentric disk orbiting the supermassiveblack hole (SMBH) at a distance of r<4 pc. The peak velocity dispersion is381+/-55 km/s , offset by 0.13 +/- 0.03 from the SMBH, consistent with previoushigh-resolution long-slit observations. There is a lack of near-infrared (NIR)emission at the position of the SMBH and young nuclear cluster, suggesting aspatial separation between the young and old stellar populations within thenucleus. We compare the observed kinematics with dynamical models from Peiris &Tremaine (2003). The best-fit disk orientation to the NIR flux is [$\theta_l$,$\theta_i$, $\theta_a$] = [-33 +/- 4$^{\circ}$, 44 +/- 2$^{\circ}$, -15 +/-15$^{\circ}$], which is tilted with respect to both the larger-scale galacticdisk and the best-fit orientation derived from optical observations. Theprecession rate of the old disk is $\Omega_P$ = 0.0 +/- 3.9 km/s/pc, lower thanthe majority of previous observations. This slow precession rate suggests thatstellar winds from the disk will collide and shock, driving rapid gas inflowsand fueling an episodic central starburst as suggested in Chang et al. (2007).

A Slowly Precessing Disk in the Nucleus of M31 as the Feeding Mechanism for a Central Starburst