The co-evolution massive, early-type galaxies and their nuclear black holes is apparently
regulated by feedback from active galactic nuclei. X-ray observations have shown that
over the past 5-7 Gyr, massive galaxy evolution has been governed primarily by radio jets
and lobes. The Atacama Large Millimeter Array has sharpened our understanding of the
relationships between so-called radio-mode feedback and molecular cloud formation.
Unlike spriral galaxies where molecular gas lies in a disk in ordered motion about the
center of the galaxy, molecular clouds in cluster centrals likely formed in the
updrafts of rising radio bubbles. Less is known about molecular gas in normal giant
ellipticals. However, trends between the thermodynamic properties of their hot
atmospheres suggest much of their molecular gas may have condensed from hot
atmospheres themselves.
Seminar Speaker: Brian McNamara, University of Waterloo
Host: Tchekhovskoy
Keywords: Physics, Astronomy, Seminar, Colloquium
Yassaman
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