THE SPECTRALLY RESOLVED Lyα EMISSION OF THREE Lyα-SELECTED FIELD GALAXIES AT z ∼ 2.4 FROM THE HETDEX PILOT SURVEY
We present new results on the spectrally resolved Lyα emission of three Lyα-emitting field galaxies at z ∼ 2.4 with high Lyα equivalent width (>100 Å) and Lyα luminosity (∼10{sup 43} erg s{sup –1}). At 120 km s{sup –1} (FWHM) spectral resolution, the prominent double-peaked Lyα profile straddles the systemic velocity, where the velocity zero point is determined from spectroscopy of the galaxies' rest-frame optical nebular emission lines. The average velocity offset from systemic of the stronger redshifted emission component for our sample is 176 km s{sup –1} while the average total separation between the redshifted and main blueshifted emission components is 380 km s{sup –1}. These measurements are a factor of ∼2 smaller than for UV-continuum-selected galaxies that show Lyα in emission with lower Lyα equivalent widths. We compare our Lyα spectra to the predicted line profiles of a spherical 'expanding shell' Lyα radiative transfer grid that models large-scale galaxy outflows. Specifically, blueward of the systemic velocity where two galaxies show a weak, highly blueshifted (by ∼1000 km s{sup –1}) tertiary emission peak, the model line profiles are a relatively poor representation of the observed spectra. Since the neutral gas column density has a dominant influence over the shape of the Lyα line profile, we caution against equating the observed Lyα velocity offset with a physical outflow velocity, especially at lower spectral resolution where the unresolved Lyα velocity offset is a convoluted function of several degenerate parameters. Referring to rest-frame ultraviolet and optical Hubble Space Telescope imaging, we find that galaxy-galaxy interactions may play an important role in inducing a starburst that results in copious Lyα emission as well as perturbing the gas distribution and velocity field, both of which have strong influence over the Lyα emission line profile.