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arXiv · 2003.13280

Circum-nuclear molecular disks: role in AGN fueling and feedback

F. Combes
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Abstract

Gas inflows fueling AGN are now traceable at high-resolution with ALMA and NOEMA. Dynamical mechanisms are essential to exchange angular momentum and drive the gas to the super-massive black hole. While at 100pc scale, the gas is sometimes stalled in nuclear rings, recent observations reaching 10pc scale (50mas), inside the sphere of influence of the black hole, may bring smoking gun evidence of fueling, within a randomly oriented nuclear molecular disk. AGN feedback is also observed, in the form of narrow and collimated molecular outflows, which point towards the radio mode, or entrainment by a radio jet. Precession has been observed in a molecular outflow, indicating the precession of the radio jet. One of the best candidates for precession is the Bardeen-Petterson effect at small scale, which exerts a torque on the accreting material, and produces an extended disk warp. The misalignment between the inner and large-scale disk, enhances the coupling of the AGN feedback, since the jet sweeps a large part of the molecular disk.

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F. Combes. 2020-03-30. Circum-nuclear molecular disks: role in AGN fueling and feedback. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1743921320001544

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