Jet-Feedback on kpc scales: a review

TL;DR

This review discusses how relativistic jets from active galactic nuclei influence galaxy evolution by injecting energy into the interstellar medium, affecting gas dynamics and star formation, based on recent simulations and observations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent numerical simulations of jet feedback on kiloparsec scales and their implications for galaxy evolution.

Findings

Jets inject energy into the host galaxy’s ISM.

Jet interactions influence gas kinematics and star formation.

Simulations confirm observational evidence of jet feedback effects.

Abstract

Relativistic jets from AGN are an important driver of feedback in galaxies. They interact with their environments over a wide range of physical scales during their lifetime, and an understanding of these interactions is crucial for unraveling the role of supermassive blackholes in shaping galaxy evolution. The impact of such jets have been traditionally considered in the context of heating the large-scale environments. However, in the last few decades there has been additional focus on the immediate impact of jet feedback on the host galaxy itself. In this review we outline the development of various numerical simulations since the onset of studies of jets to the present day, where sophisticated numerical techniques have been employed to study jet feedback including a range of physical processes. The jets can act as an important agent of injecting energy in the host's ISM, as confirmed both in observations of multi-phase gas, as well as in simulations. Such interactions have the potential to impact the kinematics of the gas as well as its star formation. We summarize the recent results from simulations of jet feedback on kpc scales, and outline the broader implications for observations and galaxy evolution.