Massive Molecular Gas as a Fuel Tank for Active Galactic Nuclei Feedback In Central Cluster Galaxies

Massive molecular gas has been discovered in giant elliptical galaxies at the centers of galaxy clusters. To reveal its role in active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback in those galaxies, we construct a semianalytical model of gas circulation. This model especially focuses on the massive molecular gas (interstellar cold gas on a scale of similar to 10 kpc) and the circumnuclear disk (less than or similar to 0.5 kpc). We consider the destruction of the interstellar cold gas by star formation and the gravitational instability for the circumnuclear disk. Our model can reproduce the basic properties of the interstellar cold gas and the circumnuclear disk, such as their masses. We also find that the circumnuclear disk tends to stay at the boundary between stable and unstable states. This works as an "adjusting valve" that regulates mass accretion toward the supermassive black hole. On the other hand, the interstellar cold gas serves as a "fuel tank" in the AGN feedback. Even if the cooling of the galactic hot gas is prevented, the interstellar cold gas can sustain the AGN activity for greater than or similar to 0.5 Gyr. We also confirm that the small entropy of hot gas (less than or similar to 30 keV cm(2)) or the short cooling time (less than or similar to 1 Gyr) is a critical condition for the existence of massive amounts of molecular gas in the galaxy. The dissipation time of the interstellar cold gas may be related to the critical cooling time. The galaxy behavior is described by a simple relation among the disk stability, the cloud dissipation time, and the gas cooling rate.