Does the Compact Radio Jet in PG 1700+518 Drive a Molecular Outflow?

Abstract

Radio jets play an important role in quasar feedback, but direct observations showing how the jets interact with the multi-phase interstellar medium of galaxy disks are few and far between. In this work, we provide new millimeter interferometric observations of PG 1700+518 in order to investigate the effect of its radio jet on the surrounding molecular gas. PG 1700 is a radio-quiet, low-ionization broad absorption line quasar whose host galaxy has a nearby interacting companion. On sub-kiloparsec scales, the ionized gas is driven to high velocities by a compact radio jet that is identified by radio interferometry. We present observations from the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) interferometer with a 3.8 arcsec (16 kpc) synthesized beam where we detect the CO (1-0) emission line at $30\sigma$ significance with a total flux of $3.12\pm0.02$ Jy km s$^{-1}$ and a typical velocity dispersion of $125\pm5$ km s$^{-1}$. Despite the outflow in ionized gas, we find no concrete evidence that the CO gas is being affected by the radio jet on size scales of a kiloparsec or more. However, a $\sim\!1$ arcsec drift in the spatial centroid of the CO emission as a function of velocity across the emission line and the compact nature of the jet hint that higher spatial resolution observations may reveal a signal of interaction between the jet and molecular gas.