Molecular Outflows in Galaxy Merger Simulations with Embedded Active Galactic Nuclei

Narayanan, Desika; Cox, Thomas J.; Robertson, Brant; Davé, Romeel; Matteo, Tiziana Di; Hernquist, Lars; Hopkins, Philip F.; Kulesa, Craig; Walker, Christopher K.

doi:10.1086/504846

Cited by 58 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 51 publications

(71 reference statements)

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“…This suggests a solution to the long-standing problem of the transport of energy from the nucleus to the bulk of the galaxy: a highly supersonic shock transports outwards the energy accumulated in the center by radiatively accelerated nuclear winds. Extended emission and kinematic signatures in the CO line profiles similar to those observed here are predicted by hydrodynamic simulations that study the effect of AGN feedback on the molecular gas (Narayanan et al 2006(Narayanan et al , 2008. Owing to the simultaneous presence of a strong wind, heavy X-ray absorption, and of high star-formation rate, Mrk 231 has been regarded as one of the promising candidates of a QSO transiting from the obscured accretion phase, accompanied by vigorous star formation, where AGN feedback onto the host galaxy is in action, to the un-obscured phase (Page et al 2004;Stevens et al 2005) in the framework of the AGN-galaxy co-evolutionary sequence.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Quasar feedback revealed by giant molecular outflows

Feruglio¹,

Maiolino²,

Piconcelli³

et al. 2010

A&A

608

699

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In the standard scenario for galaxy evolution young star-forming galaxies transform into red bulge-dominated spheroids, where star formation has been quenched. To explain this transformation, a strong negative feedback generated by accretion onto a central supermassive black hole is often invoked. The depletion of gas resulting from quasar-driven outflows should eventually stop star-formation across the host galaxy and lead the black hole to "suicide" by starvation. Direct observational evidence for a major quasar feedback onto the host galaxy is still missing, because outflows previously observed in quasars are generally associated with the ionized component of the gas, which only accounts for a minor fraction of the total gas content, and typically occurrs in the central regions. We used the IRAM PdB Interferometer to observe the CO(1−0) transition in Mrk 231, the closest quasar known. Thanks to the wide band we detected broad wings of the CO line, with velocities of up to 750 km s −1 and spatially resolved on the kpc scale. These broad CO wings trace a giant molecular outflow of about 700 M /year, far larger than the ongoing star-formation rate (∼200 M /year) observed in the host galaxy. This wind will totally expel the cold gas reservoir in Mrk 231 in about 10 7 yrs, therefore halting the starformation activity on the same timescale. The inferred kinetic energy in the molecular outflow is ∼1.2 × 10 44 erg/s, corresponding to a few percent of the AGN bolometric luminosity, which is very close to the fraction expected by models ascribing quasar feedback to highly supersonic shocks generated by radiatively accelerated nuclear winds. Instead, the contribution by the SNe associated with the starburst fall short by several orders of magnitude to account for the kinetic energy observed in the outflow. The direct observational evidence for quasar feedback reported here provides solid support to the scenarios ascribing the observed properties of local massive galaxies to quasar-induced large-scale winds.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Quasar feedback revealed by giant molecular outflows

Feruglio¹,

Maiolino²,

Piconcelli³

et al. 2010

A&A

608

699

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The stellar masses ranged from ∼ 3 − 8 × 10 11 M , and the galaxies lived in haloes ranging from ∼ 7 − 20 × 10 12 M . (Narayanan et al, 2006a(Narayanan et al, ,b, 2008b) 3D non-LTE Monte Carlo molecular line radiative transfer calculations in post-processing. These authors found that SMGs that formed in galaxy mergers show broad CO line widths, varied CO morphologies, and typically subthermal CO excitation, comparable to previous observations (c.f.…”

Section: Idealized and Hybrid Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dusty star-forming galaxies at high redshift

2014

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Far-infrared and submillimeter wavelength surveys have now established the important role of dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) in the assembly of stellar mass and the evolution of massive galaxies in the Universe. The brightest of these galaxies have infrared luminosities in excess of 10 13 L with implied star-formation rates of thousands of solar masses per year. They represent the most intense starbursts in the Universe, yet many are completely optically obscured. Their easy detection at submm wavelengths is due to dust heated by ultraviolet radiation of newly forming stars. When summed up, all of the dusty, star-forming galaxies in the Universe produce an infrared radiation field that has an equal energy density as the direct starlight emission from all galaxies visible at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths. The bulk of this infrared extragalactic background light emanates from galaxies as diverse as gas-rich disks to mergers of intense starbursting galaxies. Major advances in far-infrared instrumentation in recent years, both spacebased and ground-based, has led to the detection of nearly a million DSFGs, yet our understanding of the underlying astrophysics that govern the start and end of the dusty starburst phase is still in nascent stage. This review is aimed at summarizing the current status of DSFG studies, focusing especially on the detailed characterization of the bestunderstood subset (submillimeter galaxies, who were summarized in the last review of this field over a decade ago, Blain et al. 2002), but also the selection and characterization of more recently discovered DSFG populations. We review DSFG population statistics, their physical properties including dust, gas and stellar contents, their environments, and current theoretical models related to the formation and evolution of these galaxies.

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“…Double-horned profiles, as in SW022550, are often found in merging galaxies, for example submillimeter galaxies (e.g., Frayer et al 1998;Neri et al 2003;Tacconi et al 2006;Bothwell et al 2010), and may either signalize a rotating disk or a merger of two reservoirs of molecular gas (e.g., Neri et al 2003;Taniguchi & Shioya 1998;Sakamoto et al 1999;Narayanan et al 2006;Downes & Solomon 1998;Evans et al 1999). However, double-peaked profiles with FWHM ≥ 300 km s −1 per peak are rarely observed.…”

Section: Are the Line Profiles In Our Sources Typical?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Disk, merger, or outflow? Molecular gas kinematics in two powerful obscured QSOs atz ≥ 3.4

Polletta

Nesvadba

Neri

et al. 2011

A&A

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We report on the detection of bright CO(4-3) line emission in two powerful, obscured quasars discovered in the SWIRE survey, SW022513 and SW022550 at z ≥ 3.4. We analyze the line strength and profile to determine the gas mass, dynamical mass, and the gas dynamics for both galaxies. In SW022513 we may have found the first evidence for a molecular, AGN-driven wind in the early Universe. The line profile in SW022513 is broad (FWHM = 1000 km s −1 ) and blueshifted by −200 km s −1 relative to systemic (where the systemic velocity is estimated from the narrow components of ionized gas lines, as is commonly done for AGN at low and high redshifts). SW022550 has a more regular, double-peaked profile, which is marginally spatially resolved in our data, consistent with either a merger or an extended disk. The molecular gas masses, 4×10 10 M , are large and account for <30% of the stellar mass, making these obscured QSOs as gas rich as other powerful CO emitting galaxies at high redshift, i.e., submillimeter galaxies. Our sources exhibit relatively lower star-formation efficiencies compared to other dusty, powerful starburst galaxies at high redshift. We speculate that this could be a consequence of the AGN perturbing the molecular gas.

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Molecular Outflows in Galaxy Merger Simulations with Embedded Active Galactic Nuclei

Cited by 58 publications

References 51 publications

Quasar feedback revealed by giant molecular outflows

Quasar feedback revealed by giant molecular outflows

Dusty star-forming galaxies at high redshift

Disk, merger, or outflow? Molecular gas kinematics in two powerful obscured QSOs atz ≥ 3.4

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