Pedro Capelo - January 22, 2014 Black Hole Dynamics and AGN Activity in Galaxy Mergers I present the latest results from a suite of high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations of mergers between two late-type galaxies, in which I vary the mass ratio and the directions of the two galactic angular momentum vectors, and where I include realistic descriptions of cooling, stellar and black hole feedback, and star formation. I study both the evolution of the central black holes and the fate of the galaxies themselves, from the moment the two galaxies can still be considered in isolation to coalescence. In the first part of the talk, I focus on one aspect of galactic interaction, particularly important in the shaping of the central areas of the merger remnant and in determining the timescale of black hole pairing: this is the occurrence, in some cases, of a 'nuclear coup', when the primary galaxy's nucleus is disrupted by the secondary galaxy during the merger, leaving the primary black hole devoid of surrounding gas and slowly finding its way towards the centre of the remnant. In the second part, I will talk about the connection between AGN activity and merger dynamics, shifting the question from asking if AGN activity is triggered by galaxy mergers to asking when and how merger-driven AGN activity occurs. In particular, I address the question of which galaxy mergers trigger black hole accretion, and when is activity triggered on one or both black holes.