Destruction of Molecular Gas Reservoirs in Early-Type Galaxies by Active Galactic Nucleus Feedback

doi:10.1088/0004-637X/690/2/1672

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Kevin Schawinski et al. 2009 ApJ 690 1672 doi:10.1088/0004-637X/690/2/1672

DESTRUCTION OF MOLECULAR GAS RESERVOIRS IN EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES BY ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS FEEDBACK

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Kevin Schawinski^1,2,3, Chris J. Lintott¹, Daniel Thomas⁴, Sugata Kaviraj¹, Serena Viti⁵, Joseph Silk¹, Claudia Maraston⁴, Marc Sarzi⁶, Sukyoung K. Yi⁷, Seok-Joo Joo⁷, Emanuele Daddi⁸, Estelle Bayet³, Tom Bell⁹ and Joe Zuntz¹

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kevin.schawinski@yale.edu

¹ Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK
² Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
³ Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Yale University, P.O. Box 208121, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
⁴ Institute of Cosmology & Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 2EG, UK
⁵ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
⁶ Centre for Astrophysics Research, Science & Technology Research Institute, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK
⁷ Department of Astronomy, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Korea
⁸ Laboratoire AIM, CEA/DSM-CNRS-Université Paris Diderot, DAPNIA/SAp, Orme des Merisiers, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
⁹ Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

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Abstract References Cited By

Residual star formation at late times in early-type galaxies and their progenitors must be suppressed in order to explain the population of red, passively evolving systems we see today. Likewise, residual or newly accreted reservoirs of molecular gas that are fueling star formation must be destroyed. This suppression of star formation in early-type galaxies is now commonly attributed to active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback wherein the reservoir of gas is heated and expelled during a phase of accretion onto the central supermassive black hole. However, direct observational evidence for a link between the destruction of this molecular gas and an AGN phase has been missing so far. We present new mm-wavelength observations from the IRAM 30 m telescope of a sample of low-redshift SDSS early-type galaxies currently undergoing this process of quenching of late-time star formation. Our observations show that the disappearance of the molecular gas coincides within less than 100 Myr with the onset of accretion onto the black hole and is too rapid to be due to star formation alone. Since our sample galaxies are not associated to powerful quasar activity or radio jets, we conclude that low-luminosity AGN episodes are sufficient to suppress residual star formation in early-type galaxies. This "suppression mode" of AGN feedback is very different from the "truncation mode" linked to powerful quasar activity during early phases of galaxy formation.

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DESTRUCTION OF MOLECULAR GAS RESERVOIRS IN EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES BY ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS FEEDBACK

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