The correlation between the 500 pc scale molecular gas masses and AGN powers for massive elliptical galaxies.

This article investigates the relationship between circumnuclear molecular gas and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity in nine massive elliptical galaxies located at the centers of galaxy clusters. Using archival Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) data focusing on CO line emissions within 500 parsecs of the AGNs, the study finds a significant correlation between the molecular gas mass and the jet power estimated from X-ray cavities, indicating that this cold gas fuels long-term AGN feedback over timescales of about 10 million years. The estimated gas accretion rates, derived assuming turbulence-driven angular momentum transport, also correlate with jet power, whereas radio continuum luminosities at ∼1.4 GHz and ∼100–300 GHz show no such correlation with molecular gas mass, suggesting these emissions reflect more variable, short-term AGN activity. Additionally, the millimeter/submillimeter continuum emission is primarily synchrotron radiation, with dust emission contributing notably only in lower-luminosity AGNs.