The $L - \sigma$ relation for massive bursts of star formation

Understand

The validity of the emission line luminosity vs.

• ionised gas velocity dispersion ($L - \sigma$) correlation for HII galaxies (HIIGx), and its potential as an accurate distance estimator are assessed.
• For a sample of 128 local ($0.02\lesssim z\lesssim 0.2$) compact HIIGx with high equivalent widths of their Balmer emission lines we obtained ionised gas velocity dispersion from high S/N high-dispersion spectroscopy (Subaru-HDS and ESO VLT-UVES) and integrated H$\beta$ fluxes from low dispersion wide aperture spectrophotometry.
• We find that the $L - \sigma$ relation is strong and stable against restrictions in the sample (mostly based on the emission line profiles).