Massive Molecular Outflows and Evidence for AGN Feedback from CO Observations

Understand

We study the properties of massive, galactic-scale outflows of molecular gas and investigate their impact on galaxy evolution.

• We present new IRAM PdBI CO(1-0) observations of local ULIRGs and QSO hosts: clear signature of massive and energetic molecular outflows, extending on kpc scales, is found in the CO(1-0) kinematics of four out of seven sources, with measured outflow rates of several 100 Msun/yr.
• We combine these new observations with data from the literature, and explore the nature and origin of massive molecular outflows within an extended sample of 19 local galaxies.
• We find that starburst-dominated galaxies have an outflow rate comparable to their SFR, or even higher by a factor of ~ 2-4, implying that starbursts can indeed be effective in removing cold gas from galaxies.