Powerful Outflows and Feedback from Active Galactic Nuclei

Abstract

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) represent the growth phases of the supermassive black holes in the center of almost every galaxy. Powerful, highly ionized winds, with velocities ∼0.1–0.2c, are a common feature in X-ray spectra of luminous AGNs, offering a plausible physical origin for the well-known connections between the hole and properties of its host. Observability constraints suggest that the winds must be episodic and detectable only for a few percent of their lifetimes. The most powerful wind feedback, establishing the M−σ relation, is probably not directly observable at all. The M−σ relation signals a global change in the nature of AGN feedback. At black hole masses below M−σ, feedback is confined to the immediate vicinity of the hole. At the M−σ mass, it becomes much more energetic and widespread and can drive away much of the bulge gas as a fast molecular outflow.