| The SINS Survey: Broad H-alpha Emission in High-Redshift Star-Forming Galaxies (2009) | |||||||||
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Abstract | |||||||||
| High signal-to-noise, representative spectra of star-forming galaxies at z~2, obtained via stacking of the galaxies observed in the context of the SINS survey, reveal broad (FWHM > 1500 km/s) H-alpha emission. This feature is preferentially found in the more massive and more rapidly star-forming systems, which also tend to be older and larger galaxies. We interpret this feature as evidence of either powerful starburst-driven galactic winds or active supermassive black holes. If galactic winds are responsible for the broad H-alpha emission, the high velocities of this ionized gas indicate that much of it will be expelled from the host galaxy and its dark matter halo. On the other hand, if the broad line regions of active black holes account for the broad H-alpha feature, the corresponding black holes masses are estimated to be an order of magnitude lower than those predicted by local scaling relations, suggesting a delayed assembly of supermassive black holes with respect to their host bulges.. Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures; submitted to ApJ | |||||||||
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