Exploring the Role of Black Hole Feedback in Galaxy Evolution: AGN Feedback from Clouds to Galaxies

In this thesis, we aim to understand the impact of AGN winds on the dense clumps of the ISM, examine the differences in radio-loud and radio-quiet feedback as well as the effect of wind inclination, and establish the stellar signatures of jet induced star formation. The thesis is organized as follows. In Chaper 2, we seek to probe whether or not a wind resulting from an AGN jet cocoon or an AGN wind bubble can cause the collapse of the ISM's dense clouds of gas and form stars. We perform 3D Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) hydrodynamic simulations of realistic, high velocity winds characteristic of AGN jet cocoons and outflow bubbles shocking Bonnor{Ebert spheres (Bonnor, 1956; Ebert, 1955). We have better resolution than in the past, and we include gravity, heating and cooling for the entire temperature range (including very low temperatures), as well as spatially correlated perturbations in the wind. We identify and analyze the resulting clumps, and calculate star formation rates. In Chapter 3, we employ 3D AMR hydrodynamic simulations on the scale of a single galaxy to examine the role of opening angle and inclination in mechanical AGN feedback. We use four simulations, each on the same gas-rich, disk galaxy at a redshift of 2-3 with different feedback parameters: a jet with a small opening angle and 0 degree inclination with respect to the disk, and three wide angle winds with 0 degree inclination, 45 degree inclination, and 90 degree inclination. We analyze the morphology and evolution of the galaxies, feedback to the host's gas, impact on star formation, and feedback to the circum-galactic medium (CGM). In Chapter 4, we evolve stellar orbits from the same simulation of a gas-rich disk galaxy with a jet to find the effects of jets on host galaxy stellar populations that endure longer than the jet itself to further help determine the role of radio-loud feedback in galaxy formation and evolution