The role of bars in AGN feeding

Bars are one of the proposed mechanisms responsible for the transport of angular momentum in spiral galaxies. One of the consequences of the presence of bars would be the removal of angular momentum from the gas, which would result in its migration to the innermost region of a galaxy, creating a reservoir to feed an active galactic nucleus (AGN). In this context, several studies have addressed the bar-AGN connection, but the results of these studies are conflicting. The incompatibility may be related to the different approaches for bar identification and activity detection. In addition, the different spatial and temporal scales involved in bar-driven gas inflows, central black hole accretion, and AGN emission may result in difficulties in establishing a relation between large-scale bars and AGN activity. We revisited the bar-AGN connection in a sample of galaxies from the SDSS where the bar properties were previously estimated with \texttt{BUDDA}. Furthermore, We carry out the activity detection by emission-line diagnosis. Before comparing active and inactive galaxies, we conducted careful sample selection to minimise bias, using propensity score matching. This technique offers an analytical approach to creating control samples based on some object parameters. We found that AGN are preferentially found in barred galaxies. Also, that the accretion rate is higher in barred galaxies, but only when different parameters are used in the M--$\sigma$ to estimate the mass of the black hole in barred and unbarred galaxies. On the other hand, we found no correlation between activity level and bar strength. Taken together, our results reinforce the theoretical predictions that the bar is an important mechanism in disk galaxies, but also indicate that other mechanisms may play an important role. Despite gas transport through the bar, gas can accumulate in resonance regions, affecting the inflow. Observations of smaller-scale structures can provide clues about the dynamics of the gas in these regions and its relationship with AGN and star formation. In addition, we present prospects for measuring emission lines with multiple components in the central kiloparsec of galaxy NGC613 obtained with MUSE.