# Radiative AGN feedback on a moving mesh: the impact of the galactic disc   and dust physics on outflow properties

**Authors:** David J. Barnes (1), Rahul Kannan (2), Mark Vogelsberger (1), Federico, Marinacci (1,2) ((1) MIT, (2) Harvard/CfA)

arXiv: 1812.01611 · 2018-12-06

## TL;DR

This study uses advanced radiation-hydrodynamic simulations to investigate how AGN feedback influences galactic outflows, emphasizing the roles of galactic discs and dust physics in shaping outflow properties.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel simulation framework with Arepo-RT to analyze the effects of dust physics and galactic structures on AGN-driven outflows, highlighting the importance of dust and galaxy morphology.

## Key findings

- Dust enhances outflow strength by increasing optical depth.
- Dust destruction reduces outflow properties below observed levels.
- Galactic disc contraction significantly boosts outflow velocity.

## Abstract

Feedback from accreting supermassive black holes, active galactic nuclei (AGN), is now a cornerstone of galaxy formation models. In this work, we present radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of radiative AGN feedback using the novel Arepo-RT. A central black hole emits radiation at a constant luminosity and drives an outflow via radiation pressure on dust grains. Utilising an isolated NFW halo we validate our setup in the single and multi-scattering regimes, with the simulated shock front propagation in excellent agreement with the expected analytic result. For a spherically symmetric NFW halo, an examination of the simulated outflow properties generated by radiative feedback demonstrates that they are lower than typically observed at a fixed AGN luminosity, regardless of the collimation of the radiation. We then explore the impact of a central disc galaxy and the assumed dust model on the outflow properties. The contraction of the halo during the galaxy's formation and modelling the production of dust grains results in a factor $100$ increase in the halo's optical depth. Radiation is then able to couple momentum more efficiently to the gas, driving a stronger shock and producing a mass-loaded $\sim10^{3}\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ outflow with a velocity of $\sim2000\,\mathrm{km}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}$, in agreement with observations. However, the inclusion of dust destruction mechanisms, like thermal sputtering, leads to the rapid destruction of dust grains within the outflow, reducing its properties below typically observed values. We conclude that radiative AGN feedback can drive outflows, but a thorough numerical and physical treatment is required to assess its true impact.

## Full text

_Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1812.01611/full.md

## Figures

19 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1812.01611/full.md

## References

133 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1812.01611/full.md

---
Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1812.01611