R. Davies, L. Burtscher, K. Dodds-Eden, G. Orban de Xivry
While the existence of a starburst-AGN connection is undisputed, there is no
consensus on what the connection is. In this contribution, we begin by noting
that the mechanisms which drive gas inwards in disk galaxies are generally
inefficient at removing angular momentum, leading to stalled inflows. Thus, a
tiered series of such processes is required to bring gas to the smallest
scales, each of which on its own may not correlate with the presence of an AGN.
Similarly, each may be associated with a starburst event, making it important
to discriminate between 'circumnuclear' and 'nuclear' star formation. In this
contribution, we show that stellar feedback on scales of tens of parsecs plays
a critical role in first hindering and then helping accretion. We argue that it
is only after the initial turbulent phases of a starburst that gas from slow
stellar winds can accrete efficiently to smaller scales. This would imply that
the properties of the obscuring torus are directly coupled to star formation
and that the torus must be a complex dynamical entity. We finish by remarking
on other contexts where similar processes appear to be at work.
View original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1201.5785
No comments:
Post a Comment