Tuesday

Although the AGN feedback effect is now routinely incorporated in to galaxy evolution models as a means of explaining the correlations between black hole mass and host galaxy properties, there remains a distinct lack of direct evidence for AGN-driven outflows that are as massive and energetic as those required by feedback models. We exploit the unique capabilities of X-shooter to investigate the multi-phase outflows in complete samples of 9 nearby ULIRGs with AGN nuclei. By combining our X-shooter results with HST/ACS imaging, we accurately quantify for the first time the kinetic powers and mass outflow rates of the ionized gas outflows and directly test the AGN feedback models in some of the most rapidly evolving galaxies in the local Universe. In addition, we present evidence for considerable ionisation and/or density stratification in the outflows, consistent with with the idea that the outflows are decelerating as they expand out of the nuclear regions.