Jet-powered Molecular Hydrogen Emission from Radio Galaxies

H2 pure-rotational emission lines are detected from warm (100–1500 K) molecular gas in 17/55 (31% of) radio galaxies at redshift z < 0.22 observed with the Spitzer IR Spectrograph. The summed H2 0–0 S(0)–S(3) line luminosities are L(H2) = 7 × 1038–2 × 1042 erg s−1, yielding warm H2 masses up to 2 × 1010 M . These radio galaxies, of both FR radio morphological types, help to firmly establish the new class of radio-selected molecular hydrogen emission galaxies (radio MOHEGs). MOHEGs have extremely large H2 to 7.7μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission ratios: L(H2)/L(PAH7.7) = 0.04–4, up to a factor 300 greater than the median value for normal star-forming galaxies. In spite of large H2 masses, MOHEGs appear to be inefficient at forming stars, perhaps because the molecular gas is kinematically unsettled and turbulent. Low-luminosity mid-IR continuum emission together with low-ionization emission line spectra indicates low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in all but three radio MOHEGs. The AGN X-ray emission measured with Chandra is not luminous enough to power the H2 emission from MOHEGs. Nearly all radio MOHEGs belong to clusters or close pairs, including four cool-core clusters (Perseus, Hydra, A2052, and A2199). We suggest that the H2 in radio MOHEGs is delivered in galaxy collisions or cooling flows, then heated by radio-jet feedback in the form of kinetic energy dissipation by shocks or cosmic rays.