Universe Colloquium: AGN Feedback in action: evidences in the ionised & molecular gas components of obscured QSOs

by Marcella Brusa (DIFA, U Bologna)

Wednesday 8 Jul 2015, 16:30 → 17:30 Europe/Berlin

seminar room (Excellence Cluster Universe, Boltzmannstrasse 2, Garching)

Quasar feedback on host galaxies in the form of powerful winds is invoked as a key mechanism to quench star formation in massive galaxies, but direct observational evidences are still scarce and the debate on the physical origin of the observed phenomena is still open. Marcella will first review the evidences we have for the presence of outflowing winds in galaxies and AGN at both low and high-z, at all spatial scales (from the accretion disk to the edges of the galaxies). Then she will present recent results from X-shooter and SINFONI observations of a sample of obscured QSOs at z~1.5 from the COSMOS survey, expected to be caught in the transitioning phase from starburst to AGN dominated systems. Their analysis suggests that the AGN rather than the on-going star-formation may be the major driver for the presence of the observed broad and shifted components. Marcella will also present unambiguous evidences of the effect of feedback in the host galaxy from studies of the ionised and molecular gas content of one of these powerful QSOs, based on SINFONI and PdBI data. The Universe Colloquium is followed by a social gathering with wine and cheese.