Science with an ngVLA: The Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect from Quasar and Starburst Winds

TL;DR

This paper discusses the potential of the next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) to detect the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect from winds driven by quasars and starbursts, which can reveal important details about galaxy evolution.

Contribution

It highlights the feasibility and scientific importance of using ngVLA to observe the SZE from galactic winds, a challenging detection with significant implications.

Findings

SZE signals from winds are detectable with ngVLA at z~1.

Detection can constrain wind properties like energy, age, and luminosity.

Optimized array design enhances sensitivity to relevant angular scales.

Abstract

The Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect (SZE) can be used to detect the hot bubbles in the intergalactic medium blown by energetic winds from AGN and starbursts. By directly constraining the kinetic luminosity, age and total energy of the outflow, it offers the promise of greatly increasing our understanding of the effects of wind feedback on galaxy evolution. Detecting the SZE in these winds is very challenging, at the edge of what is possible using existing facilities. The scale of the signal (10-100 kpc) is, however, well matched to interferometers operating at mm wavelengths for objects at z~1. Thus this could become a major science area for the ngVLA, especially if the design of the core is optimized for sensitivity on angular scales of >1 arcsec in the 90 GHz band.