Outflows in the Disks of Active Galaxies

Menci, Nicola; Fiore, F.; Feruglio, C.; Lamastra, Alessandra; Shankar, Francesco; Piconcelli, E.; Giallongo, E.; Grazian, A.

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab1a3a

Cited by 40 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 129 publications

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“…A much more promising avenue is to connect the AGN with the surrounding gas via a quasi-relativistic wind [80]. Such a model naturally produces both a M BH -σ e relation similar to the observed one, and outflow properties in excellent agreement with observations, both within galaxies [81][82][83] and on intergalactic scales in galaxy groups [84].…”

Section: Theoretical Perspectivementioning

confidence: 65%

The Case for the Fundamental MBH-σ Relation

et al. 2020

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Strong scaling relations between host galaxy properties (such as stellar mass, bulge mass, luminosity, effective radius etc) and their nuclear supermassive black hole's mass point toward a close co-evolution. In this work, we first review previous efforts supporting the fundamental importance of the relation between supermassive black hole mass and stellar velocity dispersion (M BH-σ e). We then present further original work supporting this claim via analysis of residuals and principal component analysis applied to some among the latest compilations of local galaxy samples with dynamically measured supermassive black hole masses. We conclude with a review on the main physical scenarios in favor of the existence of a M BH-σ e relation, with a focus on momentum-driven outflows.

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Section: Theoretical Perspectivementioning

confidence: 65%

The Case for the Fundamental MBH-σ Relation

et al. 2020

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“…where r, µ, m p , C f are the distance from the source, the mean atomic weight (≈ 1.4 for solar abundances), the proton mass and the covering factor of the outflow, respectively.Ė out is defined asĖ out = 1 2Ṁ out v 2 out . Correct estimates ofṀ out andĖ out are of fundamental importance to test theoretical models of two-phase expansion of AGN outflows towards galaxy scales, in which kpcscale galactic outflows are the results of the shock of ultra-fast, accretion disk-scale outflows onto the ISM (Faucher-Giguère & Quataert 2012; Zubovas & King 2012; Menci et al 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of special relativistic effects in modelling ultra-fast outflows

Luminari

Tombesi

Piconcelli

et al. 2020

A&A

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Context. Outflows are observed in a variety of astrophysical sources. Remarkably, ultra-fast (v ≥ 0.1c), highly ionised outflows in the UV and X-ray bands are often seen in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). Depending on their kinetic power and mass outflow rate, respectivelyĖ out ,Ṁ out , such outflows may play a key role in regulating the AGN-host galaxy co-evolution process through cosmic time and metal-feeding the surrounding CGM/IGM. It is therefore crucial to provide accurate estimates of the wind properties, includinġ M out ,Ė out . Aims. Here, we concentrate on special relativistic effects concerning the interaction of light with matter moving at relativistic speed relatively to the source of radiation. Our aim is to assess the impact of these effects on the observed properties of the outflows and implement a correction for these effects in the existing spectral modelling routines. Methods. We define a simple procedure to incorporate relativistic effects in radiative transfer codes. Following this procedure, we run a series of simulations to explore the impact of relativistic effects for different outflow velocities and column densities. Results. The observed optical depth of the wind is usually considered a proxy for its column density N H , independently on the velocity of the outflow. However, our simulations show that the observed optical depth of an outflow with a given column density N H decreases rapidly as the velocity of the wind approaches relativistic values. This, in turn, implies that when estimating N H from the optical depth, it is necessary to include a velocity-dependent correction, already for moderate velocities (e.g. v out > ∼ 0.05c). This correction linearly propagates to the derived quantitiesṀ out ,Ė out . Conclusions. We demonstrate that special relativistic effects must be considered in order to obtain correct estimates ofṀ out anḋ E out for an outflow moving at mildly relativistic speed relatively to the illuminating source of radiation. As an example we calculate the relativistically corrected values ofṀ out andĖ out for a sample of ∼ 30 Ultra-Fast Outflows (UFOs) taken from the literature and find correction factors of 20 − 120% within the observed range of outflowing velocities (v out ≈ 0.1 − 0.3c). This brings the ratio betweenṀ out and the disk accretion rate close or even above unity for the vast majority of the sources of the sample, highlighting the importance of the reported relativistic corrections to understand the growth of the most massive black holes. The upcoming next generation of high sensitivity X-ray telescopes such as XRISM and Athena will provide a much more complete census of UFOs, especially in the fastest velocity regime where the relativistic corrections are increasingly important.

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“…13, the range of model tracks (shown by the black relations) is able to reproduce most of our observed values (shown as red circles), where we have assumed that v max is a good approximation of V S . Therefore, the Menci et al (2019) description of an AGN-driven shock moving through a galaxy disc is able to reproduce our observations once the observed range of molecular gas masses for the host galaxies is used. The data points lying outside the model predictions from Menci et al (2019) can be explained if galaxies with lower or higher molecular gas mass are taken into account.…”

Section: Scaling Relationsmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…To test the latter hypothesis, we considered the Menci et al (2019) model, which provides a 2D description of the expansion of an AGN-driven shock in a disc with an exponential gas density profile. Their predictions are expressed in terms of the total molecular gas mass and circular velocity of the host galaxy.…”

Section: Scaling Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The red circles represent the SUPER targets, the dashed blue line shows the best fit relation for literature data compiled in Fiore et al (2017). The black curves are the Menci et al (2019) predictions for the shock velocity (approximated here by the measured v max ) versus AGN luminosity for galaxies. The three curves correspond to molecular gas masses of 2.7 × 10 9 M , 6 × 10 9 M and 2 × 10 11 M , respectively.…”

Section: Scaling Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Super

Kakkad

Mainieri

Vietri

et al. 2020

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109

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Aims. The SINFONI survey for Unveiling the Physics and Effect of Radiative feedback (SUPER) aims to trace and characterise ionised gas outflows and their impact on star formation in a statistical sample of X-ray selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) at z ∼ 2. We present the first SINFONI results for a sample of 21 Type 1 AGN spanning a wide range in bolometric luminosity (log Lbol = 45.4–47.9 erg s−1). The main aims of this paper are to determine the extension of the ionised gas, characterise the occurrence of AGN-driven outflows, and link the properties of such outflows with those of the AGN. Methods. We used adaptive optics-assisted SINFONI observations to trace ionised gas in the extended narrow line region using the [O III] λ5007 line. We classified a target as hosting an outflow if its non-parametric velocity of the [O III] line, w80, was larger than 600 km s−1. We studied the presence of extended emission using dedicated point-spread function (PSF) observations, after modelling the PSF from the Balmer lines originating from the broad line region. Results. We detect outflows in all the Type 1 AGN sample based on the w80 value from the integrated spectrum, which is in the range ∼650–2700 km s−1. There is a clear positive correlation between w80 and the AGN bolometric luminosity (> 99% correlation probability), and the black hole mass (98% correlation probability). A comparison of the PSF and the [O III] radial profile shows that the [O III] emission is spatially resolved for ∼35% of the Type 1 sample and the outflows show an extension up to ∼6 kpc. The relation between maximum velocity and the bolometric luminosity is consistent with model predictions for shocks from an AGN-driven outflow. The escape fraction of the outflowing gas increases with the AGN luminosity, although for most galaxies, this fraction is less than 10%.

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Outflows in the Disks of Active Galaxies

Cited by 40 publications

References 129 publications

The Case for the Fundamental MBH-σ Relation

The Case for the Fundamental MBH-σ Relation

The importance of special relativistic effects in modelling ultra-fast outflows

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