[en] 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.

[en] We report mid-infrared interferometric measurements (based on observations collected at the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, Chile, programme number 081.B-0092(A)) with ∼10 mas resolution, which resolve the warm (T = 285⁺²⁵_-50 K) thermal emission at the center of NGC 4151. Using pairs of Very Large Telescope 8.2 m telescopes with the Mid-infrared interferometric instrument and by comparing the data to a Gaussian model, we determined the diameter of the dust emission region, albeit only along one position angle, to be (2.0 ± 0.4) pc (FWHM). This is the first size and temperature estimate for the nuclear warm dust distribution in a Seyfert 1 galaxy. The parameters found are comparable to those in Seyfert 2 galaxies, thus providing direct support for the unified model. Using simple analytic temperature distributions, we find that the mid-infrared emission is probably not the smooth continuation of the hot nuclear source that is marginally resolved with K-band interferometry. We also detected weak excess emission around 10.5 μm in our shorter baseline observation, possibly indicating that silicate emission is extended to the parsec scale.

[en] Warm gas and dust surround the innermost regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN). They provide the material for accretion onto the super-massive black hole and they are held responsible for the orientation-dependent obscuration of the central engine. The AGN-heated dust distributions turn out to be very compact with sizes on scales of about a parsec in the mid-infrared. Only infrared interferometry currently provides the necessary angular resolution to directly study the physical properties of this dust. Size estimates for the dust distributions derived from interferometric observations can be used to construct a size-luminosity relation for the dust distributions. The large scatter about this relation suggests significant differences between the dust tori in the individual galaxies, even for nuclei of the same class of objects and with similar luminosities. This questions the simple picture of the same dusty doughnut in all AGN. The Circinus galaxy is the closest Seyfert 2 galaxy. Because its mid-infrared emission is well resolved interferometrically, it is a prime target for detailed studies of its nuclear dust distribution. An extensive new interferometric data set was obtained for this galaxy. It shows that the dust emission comes from a very dense, disk-like structure which is surrounded by a geometrically thick, similarly warm dust distribution as well as significant amounts of warm dust within the ionisation cone.

[en] We report a tentative correlation between the outflow characteristics derived from OH absorption at 119 μ m and [C ii] emission at 158 μ m in a sample of 22 local and bright ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). For this sample, we investigate whether [C ii] broad wings are a good tracer of molecular outflows, and how the two tracers are connected. Fourteen objects in our sample have a broad wing component as traced by [C ii], and all of these also show OH119 absorption indicative of an outflow (in one case an inflow). The other eight cases, where no broad [C ii] component was found, are predominantly objects with no OH outflow or a low-velocity (≤100 km s⁻¹) OH outflow. The FWHM of the broad [C ii] component shows a trend with the OH119 blueshifted velocity, although with significant scatter. Moreover, and despite large uncertainties, the outflow masses derived from OH and broad [C ii] show a 1:1 relation. The main conclusion is therefore that broad [C ii] wings can be used to trace molecular outflows. This may be particularly relevant at high redshift, where the usual tracers of molecular gas (like low-J CO lines) become hard to observe. Additionally, observations of blueshifted Na i D λλ 5890, 5896 absorption are available for 10 of our sources. Outflow velocities of Na i D show a trend with OH velocity and broad [C ii] FWHM. These observations suggest that the atomic and molecular gas phases of the outflow are connected.

[en] Dust around active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is distributed over a wide range of spatial scales and can be observed in the infrared (IR). It is generally assumed that the distribution on parsec scales forms a geometrically and optically thick entity in the equatorial plane around the accretion disk and broad-line region—dubbed ^dust torus^—that emits the bulk of the subarcsecond-scale IR emission and gives rise to orientation-dependent obscuration. However, recent IR interferometry studies with unprecedented position angle (P.A.) and baseline coverage on these small scales in two obscured (type 2) AGNs have revealed that the majority of the mid-IR emission in these objects is elongated in the polar direction. These observations are difficult to reconcile with the standard interpretation that most of the parsec-scale mid-IR emission in AGNs originate from the torus and challenges the justification of using simple torus models to model the broadband IR emission. Here, we report detailed interferometry observations of the unobscured (type 1) AGN in NGC 3783 that allow us to constrain the size, elongation, and direction of the mid-IR emission with high accuracy. The mid-IR emission is characterized by a strong elongation toward position angle P.A. –52°, closely aligned with the polar axis (P.A. –45°). We determine half-light radii along the major and minor axes at 12.5 μm of (20.0 ± 3.0) mas × (6.7 ± 1.0) mas or (4.23 ± 0.63) pc × (1.42 ± 0.21) pc, which corresponds to intrinsically scaled sizes of (69.4 ± 10.8) r_in × (23.3 ± 3.5) r_in for the inner dust radius of r_in = 0.061 pc as inferred from near-IR reverberation mapping. This implies an axis ratio of 3:1, with about 60%-90% of the 8-13 μm emission associated with the polar-elongated component. It is quite likely that the hot-dust emission as recently resolved by near-IR interferometry is misaligned with the mid-IR emitting source, which also finds a correspondence in the two distinct 3-5 μm and 20 μm bumps seen in the high angular resolution spectral energy distribution (SED). Based on this SED, we determine covering factors for the hot and warm dust components of C_hot= 0.42^+0.42_-0.21 and C_warm= 0.92^+0.92_-0.46, respectively. We conclude that these observations support a scenario where the majority of the mid-IR emission in Seyfert AGNs originate from a dusty wind in the polar region of the AGN.

[en] Emission from high-J CO lines in galaxies has long been proposed as a tracer of X-ray dominated regions (XDRs) produced by active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Of particular interest is the question of whether the obscuring torus, which is required by AGN unification models, can be observed via high-J CO cooling lines. Here we report on the analysis of a deep Herschel/PACS observation of an extremely high-J CO transition (40-39) in the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068. The line was not detected, with a derived 3σ upper limit of $2\times <!--\; ??\; -->{10}^{-<!--\; ???\; -->17}\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{m}}^{-<!--\; ???\; -->2}$. We apply an XDR model in order to investigate whether the upper limit constrains the properties of a molecular torus in NGC 1068. The XDR model predicts the CO spectral line energy distributions for various gas densities and illuminating X-ray fluxes. In our model, the CO(40-39) upper limit is matched by gas with densities of $\sim <!--\; ???\; -->{10}^6-<!--\; ???\; -->{10}^7{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{-<!--\; ???\; -->3}$, located at 1.6–5 pc from the AGN, with column densities of at least ${10}^{25}{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{-<!--\; ???\; -->2}$. At such high column densities, however, dust absorbs most of the CO(40-39) line emission at $\mathrm{\lambda <!--\; ??\; -->}=65.69\mathrm{\mu <!--\; ??\; -->}\mathrm{m}$. Therefore, even if NGC 1068 has a molecular torus that radiates in the CO(40-39) line, the dust can attenuate the line emission to below the PACS detection limit. The upper limit is thus consistent with the existence of a molecular torus in NGC 1068. In general, we expect that the CO(40-39) is observable in only a few AGN nuclei (if at all), because of the required high gas column density, and absorption by dust.

[en] We analyze the two-dimensional distribution and kinematics of the stars as well as molecular and ionized gas in the central few hundred parsecs of five active and five matched inactive galaxies. The equivalent widths of the Brγ line indicate that there is no ongoing star formation in their nuclei, although recent (terminated) starbursts are possible in the active galaxies. The stellar velocity fields show no signs of non-circular motions, while the 1-0 S(1) H₂ kinematics exhibit significant deviations from simple circular rotation. In the active galaxies the H₂ kinematics reveal inflow and outflow superimposed on disk rotation. Steady-state circumnuclear inflow is seen in three active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and hydrodynamical models indicate it can be driven by a large-scale bar. In three of the five AGNs, molecular outflows are spatially resolved. The outflows are oriented such that they intersect, or have an edge close to, the disk, which may be the source of molecular gas in the outflow. The relatively low speeds imply the gas will fall back onto the disk, and with moderate outflow rates, they will have only a local impact on the host galaxy. H₂ was detected in two inactive galaxies. These exhibit chaotic circumnuclear dust morphologies and have molecular structures that are counter-rotating with respect to the main gas component, which could lead to gas inflow in the near future. In our sample, all four galaxies with chaotic dust morphology in the circumnuclear region exist in moderately dense groups with 10-15 members where accretion of stripped gas can easily occur.

[en] We describe a complete volume limited sample of nearby active galaxies selected by their 14–195 keV luminosity, and outline its rationale for studying the mechanisms regulating gas inflow and outflow. We also describe a complementary sample of inactive galaxies, selected to match the host galaxy properties. The active sample appears to have no bias in terms of active galactic nucleus (AGN) type, the only difference being the neutral absorbing column, which is two orders of magnitude greater for the Seyfert 2s. In the luminosity range spanned by the sample, $\mathrm{l}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{g}{L}_{14-<!--\; ???\; -->195\mathrm{k}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}}[\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{g}{\mathrm{s}}^{-<!--\; ???\; -->1}]=42.4$–43.7, the optically obscured and X-ray absorbed fractions are 50%–65%. The similarity of these fractions to more distant spectroscopic AGN samples, although over a limited luminosity range, suggests that the torus does not strongly evolve with redshift. Our sample confirms that X-ray unabsorbed Seyfert 2s are rare, comprising not more than a few percent of the Seyfert 2 population. At higher luminosities, the optically obscured fraction decreases (as expected for the increasing dust sublimation radius), but the X-ray absorbed fraction changes little. We argue that the cold X-ray absorption in these Seyfert 1s can be accounted for by neutral gas in clouds that also contribute to the broad-line region (BLR) emission, and suggest that a geometrically thick neutral gas torus co-exists with the BLR and bridges the gap to the dusty torus.