Scaling ultraviolet outflows in Seyferts
  X-ray and UV absorbing outflows are frequently seen in AGN and have been
cited as a possible feedback mechanism. Whether or not they can provide
adequate feedback depends on how massive they are and how much energy they
carry, but it depends in a more fundamental way upon whether they escape the
potential of the black hole. If the outflows have reached their asymptotic
velocity when we observe them, then all of these properties critically depend
on the radius of the outflow: a value which is difficult to measure. The
tightest limit on the distance of an X-ray warm absorber from the ionizing
source is that of Krongold et al. (2007) for NGC 4051. We use NGC 4051 to model
other observed UV outflows, and find that on the whole they may not provide
meaningful feedback. The outflow velocities are below or just above the escape
velocity of the black hole. This may be because they are not yet fully
accelerated, or the duty cycle of high-velocity outflows may be small. Another
possibility is that they may only provide meaningful feedback in
higher-luminosity AGN, as we find a weak correlation between the ratio of
outflow velocity to escape velocity and AGN continuum luminosity.
