THE EMISSION-LINE SPECTRA OF MAJOR MERGERS: EVIDENCE FOR SHOCKED OUTFLOWS

Using a spectral decomposition technique, we investigate the physical origin of the high-velocity emission-line gas in a sample of 39 gas-rich, ultraluminous infrared galaxy mergers. Regions with shock-like excitation were identified in two kinematically distinct regimes, characterized by broad (sigma > 150 km s(-1)) and narrow linewidths (sigma <= 150 km s(-1)). Here, we investigate the physical origin of the broad emission, which we show is predominantly excited by shocks with velocities of 200-300 km s(-1). Considering the large amount of extinction in these galaxies, the blueshift of the broad emission suggests an origin on the near side of the galaxy and therefore an interpretation as a galactic outflow. The large spatial extent of the broad, shocked emission component is generally inconsistent with an origin in the narrow-line region of an active galactic nucleus. The kinetic energy in the mass loss as well as the luminosity of the emission lines is consistent with the fraction of the supernova energy attributed to these mechanisms by shocked stellar winds. Since some shocks can be recognized in moderately high resolution, integrated spectra of nearby ultraluminous starbursts, the spectral fitting technique introduced in Soto & Martin may therefore be used to improve the accuracy of the physical properties measured for high-redshift galaxies from their (observed frame) infrared spectra.