"Jet-Driven Molecular Outflows: Gas Properties and Cloud Stability"

Abstract:

Outflows driven by the propagation of radio jets in galaxies used to be so rare that they were thought of as oddities. Thanks to ALMA, instruments on the VLT, and JWST, jet-driven outflows are now routinely detected in the local and distant Universe. They are even used to indicate the passage of jets they have outlived, which can no longer be detected at radio wavelengths. The molecular gas in such outflows is heated, excited, and often dispersed, becoming optically thin. Yet, very dense cores are also found within the flow. I will summarize findings on the properties of the gas in jet-induced molecular outflows, and I will address how we can link them to ongoing star formation changes. For this purpose, I will present a stability analysis for entrained clouds, performed with the aid of data from all the above-mentioned facilities and excitation/radiative transfer codes that provide the multi-phase gas pressure.