Resolving gas dynamics in the circumnuclear region of a disk galaxy in a cosmological simulation

Using a hydrodynamic adaptive mesh refinement code, we simulate the growth and evolution of a galaxy, which could potentially host a supermassive black hole, within a cosmological volume. Reaching a dynamical range in excess of 10 million, the simulation follows the evolution of the gas structure from supergalactic scales all the way down to the outer edge of the accretion disk. Here we focus on global instabilities in the self- gravitating, cold, turbulence-supported, molecular gas disk at the center of the model galaxy, which provide a natural mechanism for angular momentum transport down to subparsec scales. The gas density profile follows a power law alpha r(-8/3), consistent with an analytic description of turbulence in a quasi- stationary circumnuclear disk. We analyze the properties of the disk which contribute to the instabilities and investigate the significance of instability for the galaxy's evolution and the growth of a supermassive black hole at the center.