Feedback in Normal Elliptical Galaxies

The commonly accepted paradigm states that the feedback mechanisms in normal elliptical galaxies should be tied to activity from a central active galactic nucleus (AGN), and also to radiation from stellar winds and super-nova explosions. The exact nature of contribution from each of these sources, however, has recently been a matter of much debate; even the mode of AGN feedback (local heating or global heating, jets or no jets) is still poorly under-stood. Further convoluting the matter is the role of cooling; the quantitative extent to which feedback (whether from supernovae, AGN, or stellar radiation) can quench star formation due to cooling is also contested. Using a technique known as Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics, we seek to simulate different prescriptions for cooling and feedback, comparing our results to the published correlations found in the literature. Our hope is to isolate a model which matches adequately the observed correlations (or lack thereof) among mor-phological asymmetry, x-ray and radio luminosity, x-ray and optical isophotal ellipticity, radial temperature gradient, and similar considerations, but more importantly, to rule out those models that fail to match the observed corre-lations. Committee