EXTREMELY BROAD RADIO RECOMBINATION MASER LINES TOWARD THE HIGH-VELOCITY IONIZED JET IN CEPHEUS A HW2

We present the first detection of the H40 alpha, H34 alpha, and H31 alpha radio recombination lines (RRLs) at millimeter wavelengths toward the high-velocity ionized jet in the Cepheus A HW2 star-forming region. From our single-dish and interferometric observations, we find that the measured RRLs show extremely broad asymmetric line profiles with zero-intensity line widths of similar to 1100 km s(-1). From the line widths, we estimate a terminal velocity for the ionized gas in the jet of >= 500 km s(-1), consistent with that obtained from the proper motions of the HW2 radio jet. The total integrated line-to-continuum flux ratios of the H40 alpha, H34 alpha, and H31 alpha lines are 43, 229, and 280 km s(-1), clearly deviating from LTE predictions. These ratios are very similar to those observed for the RRL masers toward MWC349A, suggesting that the intensities of the RRLs toward HW2 are affected by maser emission. Our radiative transfer modeling of the RRLs shows that their asymmetric profiles could be explained by maser emission arising from a bi-conical radio jet with a semi-opening angle of 18 degrees, electron density distribution varying as r(-2.11), and turbulent and expanding wind velocities of 60 and 500 km s(-1).