Playing with positive feedback: external pressure-triggering of a star-forming disc galaxy

TL;DR

This paper uses hydrodynamical simulations to show that active galactic nucleus (AGN) pressure can trigger positive feedback, leading to increased star formation rates in high-redshift galaxies, explaining their rapid stellar growth.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism where AGN pressure directly stimulates star formation, expanding understanding of galaxy evolution at high redshifts.

Findings

AGN pressure can induce star formation in galaxy simulations.

Positive feedback from AGN explains high star formation rates at high redshift.

Hydrodynamical simulations support AGN-driven star formation as a viable process.

Abstract

Feedback in massive galaxies generally involves quenching of star formation, a favored candidate being outflows from a central supermassive black hole. At high redshifts however, explanation of the huge rates of star formation often found in galaxies containing AGN may require a more vigorous mode of star formation than attainable by simply enriching the gas content of galaxies in the usual gravitationally-driven mode that is associated with the nearby Universe. Using hydrodynamical simulations, we demonstrate that AGN-pressure-driven star formation potentially provides the positive feedback that may be required to generate the accelerated star formation rates observed in the distant Universe.