Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2003-02-12
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
13 pages, 4 figures; invited review to appear in the proceedings of the JENAM 2002 Workshop "Galactic Dynamics", eds. C.Boily,
Scientific paper
Asymmetries in galactic potentials, either self-induced, or caused by a passing companion, play an important role in global gas dynamics in galaxies. In particular, they are able to trigger gas inflow, which in turn feeds nuclear activity. In the inner kiloparsec, the inflowing gas becomes subject to various resonances induced by asymmetry in the potential. This produces complicated gas morphology and dynamics seen in the nuclear rings and spirals. Formation of nuclear rings is related to barred galaxies, and explained by the orbital structure in bars. One can get basic understanding of weak nuclear spirals from the linear wave theory, but stronger spirals are likely to be out of the linear regime, and they appear as spiral shocks in hydrodynamical models. In addition, nuclear stellar bars are observed in a considerable fraction of disc galaxies, often nested inside the large bar; their orbital structure further modifies the nuclear gas dynamics. If a massive black hole (MBH) is present in the galactic centre, it governs the resonances even beyond its classically defined sphere of influence. Since resonances shape gas dynamics in the nuclear region, the central black hole should be able to regulate gas flow around itself.
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