The Hot and Energetic Universe: Astrophysics of feedback in local AGN

Abstract: Understanding the astrophysics of feedback in active galactic nuclei (AGN) is key to understanding the growth and co-evolution of supermassive black holes and galaxies. AGN-driven winds/outflows are potentially the most effective way of transporting energy and momentum from the nuclear scales to the host galaxy, quenching star formation by sweeping away the gas reservoir. Key questions in this field are: 1) how do accretion disks around black holes launch winds/outflows, and how much energy do these carry? 2) How are the energy and metals accelerated in winds/outflows transferred and deposited into the circumgalactic medium? X-ray observations are a unique way to address these questions because they probe the phase of the outflows which carries most of the kinetic energy. We show how a high throughput, high spectral resolution instrument like the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) on Athena+ will allow us to address these questions by determining the physical parameters (ionization state, density, temperature, abundances, velocities, geometry, etc.) of the outflows on a dynamical time-scale, in a broad sample of nearby bright AGN. The X-IFU will also allow direct spectral imaging of the impact of these winds on the host galaxy for local AGN, forming a template for understanding AGN at higher redshifts where wind shocks cannot be resolved.