Abstract

Invited Talk - Plenary

Tuesday, 12 September 2023, 10:00   (H 0104 / virtual plenum)

Tracing AGN feedback across cosmic time and from small to large scales

Dominika Wylezalek
University of Heidelberg

Feedback from accreting supermassive black holes is now a standard ingredient in galaxy formation models. It is seen as necessary for explaining the steep decline of the galaxy mass function and for establishing the black hole vs. bulge correlations. In the last few years, optical and near-IR integral field unit (IFU) observations have provided new physical insights on this important issue. However, constraining the power and reach of such feedback processes exerted by black holes onto their hosts remains a major unresolved issue in modern extragalactic astrophysics. While ground-based observations are limited by the Earth’s atmosphere, they provide tantalizing hints at the coming revolution that JWST’s high-resolution, near- and mid-IR capabilities will bring to this area of research. In my talk I will review the efforts of our group to understand the power, reach and impact of AGN feedback processes. Observations at low redshift allow for detailed, systematic multi-phase observations in large AGN samples. However, both star formation and quasar activity peak at z ~ 2-3 where AGN are expected to impact the build-up of stellar mass the most. The JWST in concert with MUSE and ALMA data now allow to characterise feedback processes in detail in powerful AGN at and near Cosmic Noon. Eventually this will allow us to obtain a census of the overall mass and energy budget of both outflow and infall/feeding from the CGM, an essential requirement to probe the detailed and full feedback loop.