A HST/WFC3-IR Morphological Survey of Galaxies at z = 1.5-3.6. II. The Relation between Morphology and Gas-phase Kinematics

Abstract

We analyze rest-frame optical morphologies and gas-phase kinematics as traced by rest-frame far-UV and optical spectra for a sample of 204 star-forming galaxies in the redshift range z ~ 2-3 drawn from the Keck Baryonic Structure Survey. We find that spectroscopic properties and gas-phase kinematics are closely linked to morphology: compact galaxies with semimajor axis radii r <~ 2 kpc are substantially more likely than their larger counterparts to exhibit Lyα in emission. Although Lyα emission strength varies widely within galaxies of a given morphological type, all but one of 19 galaxies with Lyα equivalent width W _Lyα > 20 Å have compact and/or multiple-component morphologies with r <= 2.5 kpc. The velocity structure of absorption lines in the galactic continuum spectra also varies as a function of morphology. Galaxies of all morphological types drive similarly strong outflows (as traced by the blue wing of interstellar absorption line features), but the outflows of larger galaxies are less highly ionized and exhibit larger optical depth at the systemic redshift that may correspond to a decreasing efficiency of feedback in evacuating gas from the galaxy. This v ~ 0 km s^-1 gas is responsible both for shifting the mean absorption line redshift and attenuating W _Lyα (via a longer resonant scattering path) in galaxies with larger rest-optical half-light radii. In contrast to galaxies at lower redshifts, there is no evidence for a correlation between outflow velocity and inclination, suggesting that outflows from these puffy and irregular systems may be poorly collimated. Our observations are broadly consistent with theoretical models of inside-out growth of galaxies in the young universe, in which typical z ~ 2-3 star-forming galaxies are predominantly unstable, dispersion-dominated, systems fueled by rapid gas accretion that later form extended rotationally supported disks when stabilized by a sufficiently massive stellar component.

Based in part on data obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA, and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.