Constraining Quasar Feedback from Analysis of the Hydrostatic Equilibrium of the Molecular Gas in Their Host Galaxies

Kavli Affiliate: Jinyi Shangguan

| First 5 Authors: Qinyue Fei, Ran Wang, Juan Molina, Luis C. Ho, Jinyi Shangguan

| Summary:

We investigate the kinematics and dynamics of the molecular and ionized gas
in the host galaxies of three Palomar-Green quasars at low redshifts,
benefiting from the archival millimeter-wave interferometric and optical
integral field unit data. We study the kinematics of both cold molecular and
hot ionized gas by analyzing the CO and H$alpha$ data cubes, and construct the
mass distributions of our sample through gas dynamics, utilizing a priori
knowledge regarding the galaxy light distribution. We find no systematic offset
between the stellar mass derived from our dynamical method and that from the
broad-band photometry and mass-to-light ratio, suggesting the consistency of
both methods. We then study the kinetic pressure and the weight of the
interstellar medium using our dynamical mass model. By studying the
relationship between kinetic pressure and gravitational pressure of the quasar
host galaxies, we find an equivalence in the hydrostatic equilibrium states of
ISM in the quasar host galaxies, similar to the result of gas equilibrium in
normal star-forming galaxies, suggesting minimal quasar feedback. Regarding
non-circular motion as indicative of quasar-driven outflows, we observe an
exceptionally low coupling efficiency between molecular gas outflow and AGN
bolometric luminosities. These results demonstrate the marginal influence of
the central engine on the properties of cold molecular gas in quasar host
galaxies.

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