A Mighty Wind: The Physics of AGN Outflows
John Everett
Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
Observations of galactic nuclei have recently revealed mass outflows, or
"winds", in a large fraction of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). In various
observations, those outflows have velocities ranging from 500 km/s to 20%
the speed of light. These data show how important outflows are to AGN
activity, and they help us address questions about wind physics: most
importantly, how are the winds launched? Are outflows thermally,
radiatively, or magnetically driven? I will review both the observations
and the theory of large-scale outflows from Active Galactic Nuclei,
present results from all of the different outflow models, and apply those
models to observations. These results, combined with new observations,
hint that magnetic driving is a key component in explaining the variety of
AGN outflows. I will end by outlining future research to further test
that hypothesis.