Image Details
Caption: Figure 6.
Illustrative schematic showing the two regimes in our AGN targets affected by the two feedback modes associated with AGN irradiation and shock processing, respectively. Gray arrows in the lower right corner indicate the directions in theory of increasing overall PAH size and neutral fraction as the PAH band ratios change. Using star-forming regions as a baseline, AGN irradiation tends to drive the heating and ionization of PAH molecules, followed by the preferential photodestruction of smaller PAHs, leading to a population dominated by larger and more ionized PAHs. In contrast, shock processing appears to preferentially destroy ionized PAHs, resulting in a higher survival fraction of large and neutral PAHs.
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© 2026. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
