No Arabic abstract
We investigate the effect of embedded active galactic nuclei (AGN) in galaxy mergers on the CO molecular line emission by combining non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) radiative transfer calculations with hydrodynamic simulations. We find that AGN feedback energy in gas rich galaxy mergers can contribute to large molecular outflows which may be detectable via velocity-integrated emission contour maps, as well as through kinematic features in the emission line profiles.
We study the effects of feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN) on emission from molecular gas in galaxy mergers by combining hydrodynamic simulations which include black holes with a three-dimensional, non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) radiative transfer code. We find that molecular clouds entrained in AGN winds produce an extended CO morphology with significant off-nuclear emission, which may be detectable via contour mapping. Furthermore, kinematic signatures of these molecular outflows are visible in emission line profiles when the outflow has a large line of sight velocity. Our results can help interpret current and upcoming observations of luminous infrared galaxies, as well as provide a detailed test of subresolution prescriptions for supermassive black hole growth in galaxy-scale hydrodynamic simulations.
We examine X-ray emission produced from hot gas during collisions and mergers of disk galaxies. To study this process, we employ simulations that incorporate cosmologically motivated disk-galaxy models and include the effects of radiative cooling, star formation, supernova feedback, and accreting supermassive black holes. We find that during a merger, the colliding gas in the disks is shock-heated to X-ray-emitting temperatures. The X-ray luminosity is spatially extended, rises during the initial stages of the merger, and peaks when the galactic centers coalesce. When a physical model for accreting black holes is included, the resulting feedback can drive powerful winds that contribute significantly to the amount and metallicity of hot gas, both of which increase the X-ray luminosity. In terms of their stellar kinematics and structural properties, the merger remnants in our simulations resemble elliptical galaxies. We find that the X-ray luminosities of the remnants with B-band luminosities in the range L_B ~ 10^10 - 10^11 Lsun are consistent with observations, while remnants with smaller or larger masses are underluminous in X-rays. Moreover, because the majority of the merger remnants are broadly consistent with the observed scaling relations between temperature, B-band luminosity and X-ray luminosity we conclude that major mergers are a viable mechanism for producing the X-ray halos of large, luminous elliptical galaxies.
Simulations expect an enhanced star-formation and active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity during galaxy mergers, which can lead to formation of binary/dual AGN. AGN feedback can enhance or suppress star-formation. We have carried out a pilot study of a sample of 10 dual nuclei galaxies with AstroSats Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT). Here, we present the initial results for two sample galaxies (Mrk 739, ESO 509) and deep multi-wavelength data of another galaxy (Mrk 212). UVIT observations have revealed signatures of positive AGN feedback in Mrk 739 and Mrk 212, and negative feedback in ESO 509. Deeper UVIT observations have recently been approved; these will provide better constraints on star-formation as well as AGN feedback in these systems.
In this paper we present an overview of the MAGNA (Multiple AGN Activity) project aiming at a comprehensive study of multiple supemassive black hole systems. With the main goal to characterize the sources in merging systems at different stages of evolution, we selected a sample of objects optically classified as multiple systems on the basis of emission line diagnostics and started a massive multiband observational campaign. Here we report on the discovery of the exceptionally high AGN density compact group SDSS~J0959+1259. A multiband study suggests that strong interactions are taking place among its galaxies through tidal forces, therefore this system represents a case study for physical mechanisms that trigger nuclear activity and star formation. We also present a preliminary analysis of the multiple AGN system SDSS~J1038+3921.}
We analyze a suite of $30$ high resolution zoom-in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of massive galaxies with stellar masses $M_{ast} > 10^{10.9} M_odot$, with the goal of better understanding merger activity in AGN, AGN activity in merging systems, SMBH growth during mergers, and the role of gas content. Using the radiative transfer code textsc{Powderday}, we generate HST-WFC3 F160W synthetic observations of redshift $0.5 < z < 3$ central galaxies, add noise properties similar to the CANDELS survey, and measure morphological properties from the synthetic images using commonly adopted non-parametric statistics. We compare the distributions of morphological properties measured from the synthetic images with a sample of inactive galaxies and X-ray selected AGN hosts from CANDELS. We study the connection between mergers and AGN activity in the simulations, the synthetic images, and the observed CANDELS sample. We find that, in both the simulations and CANDELS, even the most luminous $(L_{rm bol} > 10^{45}$ erg s$^{-1})$ AGN in our sample are no more likely than inactive galaxies $(L_{rm bol} < 10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1})$ to be found in merging systems. We also find that AGN activity is not overall enhanced by mergers, nor enhanced at any specific time in the $1$ Gyr preceding and following a merger. Even gas rich major mergers (stellar mass ratio $>$1:4) do not necessarily enhance AGN activity or significantly grow the central SMBH. We conclude that in the simulated massive galaxies studied here, mergers are not the primary drivers of AGN.