The jet-ISM interactions in IC 5063

TL;DR

This study uses 3D relativistic hydrodynamic simulations to model the interaction between the AGN jet and the interstellar medium in IC 5063, reproducing observed gas dynamics and revealing jet-driven gas dispersal and halo venting.

Contribution

First 3D hydrodynamic simulations of jet-ISM interactions in IC 5063, matching observed gas kinematics and demonstrating jet influence on multi-phase gas and halo entrainment.

Findings

Jets accelerate clouds beyond 400 km/s

Jets disrupt and displace central gas clouds

Jet plasma vents into the galaxy halo

Abstract

The interstellar medium of the radio galaxy IC 5063 is highly perturbed by an AGN jet expanding in the gaseous disc of the galaxy. We model this interaction with relativistic hydrodynamic simulations and multiphase initial conditions for the interstellar medium and compare the results with recent observations. As the jets flood through the inter-cloud channels of the disc, they ablate, accelerate, and disperse clouds to velocities exceeding $400 \mbox{km s}^{-1}$. Clouds are also destroyed or displaced in bulk from the central regions of the galaxy. Our models with jet powers of $10^{44} \mbox{erg s}^{-1}$ and $10^{45} \mbox{erg s}^{-1}$ are capable of reproducing many of the features seen in the position-velocity diagram published in Morganti et al. (2015) and confirm the notion that the jet is responsible for the strongly perturbed gas dynamics seen in the ionized, neutral, and molecular gas phases. In our simulations, we also see strong venting of the jet plasma perpendicular to the disc, which entrains clumps and diffuse filaments into the halo of the galaxy. Our simulations are the first 3D hydrodynamic simulations of the jet and ISM of IC 5063.