The Galactic Center (IAU S303) Feeding and Feedback in a Normal Galactic Nucleus Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union Symposia and Colloquia Series

IAU Symposium 303 highlights the latest Galactic Center research by scientists from around the world. Topics vary from theory through observations, from stars and stellar orbits through nearby black holes and explosive events, to the building blocks and transport of energy in galaxies similar to our own Milky Way. Highlights presented include: high-resolution, multi-wavelength large-scale surveys of molecular gas in the central molecular and dust zones of our Galaxy; studies of stellar populations and stellar orbits around the supermassive black hole Sgr A*; presentations of theoretical models to explain the dusty S-cluster object (DSO) G2, as well as the general accretion and jet formation in the vicinity of Sgr A*; and discussions of large-scale gamma-ray emission in the context of energetic activity and magnetic fields in the Galactic Center. The volume concludes by looking ahead to future observing opportunities across the electromagnetic spectrum at very high resolution.

The Herschel view of the Galactic center J. Bally and the Hi-GAL team; Physical conditions and chemistry of molecular gas in galactic centers S. Aalto; TeV observations of the Galactic center and starburst galaxies M. de Naurois; Formation of nuclear rings of barred galaxies and star formation therein W.-T. Kim, W.-Y. Seo and Y. Kim; The Galactic center: not an active galactic nucleus D. An, S. V. Ramírez and K. Sellgren; Improved dynamical modelling of the Arches cluster J. Lee and S. S. Kim; Lessons from comparisons between the nuclear region of the Milky Way and those in nearby spirals J. S. Gallagher, III, T. M. Yoast-Hull and E. G. Zweibel; The nucleus of IC 342 as a potential twin of the Galactic center D. S. Meier; Ionized gas dynamics in the inner 2 pc of SgrAWest J. H. Lacy, W. T. Irons and M. J. Richter; The warm ISM in the Sgr A region: mid-J CO, atomic carbon, ionized atomic carbon, and ionized nitrogen line observations with the Herschel/HIFI and NANTEN2/SMART Telescopes P. García, R. Simon, J. Stutzki, M. Requena-Torres, R. Güsten, Y. Fukui, H. Yamamoto, F. Bertoldi, M. Burton, L. Bronfman and H. Ogawa; The new infrared diffuse interstellar bands in the Galactic center T. R. Geballe, F. Najarro, D. de la Fuente, D. F. Figer, A. J. Adamson and M. G. Rawlings; Molecules in the circumnuclear disk of the Galactic center N. Harada, D. Riquelme, S. Viti, K. Menten, M. Requena-Torres, R. Güsten and S. Hochgürtel; Study of the molecular gas in the central parsec of the Galaxy through regularized 3D spectroscopy A. Ciurlo, T. Paumard, D. Rouan and Y. Clénet; SgrAWest in the light of molecules: cold and dense gas east of the circumnuclear disk L. Moser, A. Eckart, A. Borkar, M. García-Marin, D. Kunneriath, B. Jalali, N. Sabha, B. Shahzamanian, M. Valencia-S., M. Zamaninasab, L. Bronfman and R. Finger; The thermal state of molecular clouds in the Galactic center: evidence for nonphoton-driven heating Y. Ao, C. Henkel, K. M. Menten, M. A. Requena-Torres, T. Stanke, R. Mauersberger, S. Aalto, S. Mühle and J. Mangum; GBT and VLA investigation of the ionized gas towards the Galactic center M. J. Royster and F. Yusef-Zadeh; An X-ray survey of the central molecular zone: variability of the FeKα emission line S. Soldi, M. Clavel, A. Goldwurm, M. R. Morris, G. Ponti, R. Terrier and G. Trap; Hydroxyl, water, ammonia, carbon monoxide and neutral carbon towards the SgrA complex R. Karlsson, Aa. Sandqvist, Å. Hjalmarson, A. Winnberg, K. Fathi, U. Frisk and M. Olberg; Opening again the debate: the transient nature of the circumnuclear disk M. A. Requena-Torres, B. Mills, R. Güsten, M. R. Morris, A. Weiss, J. Martín-Pintado and A. Harris; Shock structure and shock heating in the Galactic central molecular zone J. Ott, M. Burton, P. Jones and D. S. Meier; Detailed distributions of the CO J = (2−1)/J = (1−0) intensity ratios toward a large area of the central molecular zone K. Torii, R. Enokiya, Y. Fukui, H. Yamamoto, A. Kawamura, N. Mizuno, T. Onishi and H. Ogawa; Regularized OSIRIS 3D spectroscopy at the circumnuclear disk ionization front T. Paumard, M. R. Morris, T. Do and A. Ghez; Interferometric 3mm spectral line and continuum survey of the central molecular zone M. W. Pound and F. Yusef-Zadeh; Unbiased line surveys of molecular clouds in the Galactic center region D. Riquelme, R. Aladro, S. Martín, M. Requena-Torres, J. Martín-Pintado, R. Güsten, R. Mauersberger, N. Harada, S. Hochgürtel and K. M. Menten; Density of warm ionized gas near the Galactic center: low radio frequency observations S. Roy; SOFIA/HAWC+: mapping the Galactic center magnetic field M. W. Werner, C. Darren Dowell, D. T. Chuss, M. R. Morris and G. Novak for the HAWC+ team; Oxygen isotope ratio studies in the Galactic center region J. Zhang, L. Sun, J. Qiu, D. Lu and M. Wang; A new very faint X-ray transient in the Galactic center S. Soldi, M. Clavel, A. G