Understanding AGN feedback via spatially-resolved spectroscopy: Winds, Molecular gas and star formation

by Dr Darshan Kakkad (University of Hertfordshire Hatfield, UK)

Wednesday 9 Sept 2026, 16:00 → 18:00 Asia/Kolkata

AG66

Growing supermassive black holes, known as Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), are thought to play a crucial role in regulating star formation within their host galaxies. The feedback manifests in the form of radiation pressure-driven winds, outflows, and/or radio jets that expel or heat the molecular gas. While observations increasingly reveal high-velocity outflows and tentative evidence of AGN-driven suppression and enhancement of star formation in isolated examples, the complex, multi-phase structure of the ISM and the effects of dust obscuration mean that our current understanding of AGN feedback remains incomplete.

In this talk, I will present results from our integral field unit (IFU) campaigns using facilities such as the Very Large Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope, to gather evidence for AGN feedback via spatially-resolve multi-phase gas in massive galaxies across cosmic time. These results will include characterising fast outflows in ionised, neutral and molecular gas phases, how these outflows may affect molecular gas in the cold and hot phase and I will address whether these collectively affect star formation over long time scales. I will show that our results indicate that AGN likely play a preventative role in regulating star formation in host galaxies rather than an ejective role. I will conclude by summarising the ongoing/planned efforts to understand feedback in a statistical sample of galaxies using upcoming data-intensive imaging and spectroscopic surveys, including AGN feedback in low-mass dwarf galaxies.