Does the Compact Radio Jet in PG 1700+518 Drive a Molecular Outflow?

TL;DR

This study investigates the impact of a compact radio jet on molecular gas in PG 1700+518, finding ionized gas outflows but no clear evidence of jet-driven molecular outflows at current resolution.

Contribution

Provides new millimeter interferometric observations of PG 1700+518 to explore jet-ISM interactions, highlighting the need for higher resolution data to detect potential molecular outflows.

Findings

Ionized gas driven to high velocities by the radio jet

No concrete evidence of molecular gas being affected by the jet at current resolution

Potential interaction signals may be revealed with higher spatial resolution observations

Abstract

Radio jets play an important role in quasar feedback, but direct observations showing how the jets interact with the multi-phase interstellar medium of galaxy disks are few and far between. In this work, we provide new millimeter interferometric observations of PG 1700+518 in order to investigate the effect of its radio jet on the surrounding molecular gas. PG 1700 is a radio-quiet, low-ionization broad absorption line quasar whose host galaxy has a nearby interacting companion. On sub-kiloparsec scales, the ionized gas is driven to high velocities by a compact radio jet that is identified by radio interferometry. We present observations from the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) interferometer with a 3.8 arcsec (16 kpc) synthesized beam where we detect the CO (1-0) emission line at $30\sigma$ significance with a total flux of $3.12\pm0.02$ Jy km s$^{-1}$ and a typical velocity dispersion of $125\pm5$ km s$^{-1}$. Despite the outflow in ionized gas, we find no concrete evidence that the CO gas is being affected by the radio jet on size scales of a kiloparsec or more. However, a $\sim\!1$ arcsec drift in the spatial centroid of the CO emission as a function of velocity across the emission line and the compact nature of the jet hint that higher spatial resolution observations may reveal a signal of interaction between the jet and molecular gas.