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Description
We present results from a survey of the internal kinematics of 49 star-forming galaxies at z~2 in the CANDELS fields with the Keck/MOSFIRE spectrograph, Survey in the near-Infrared of Galaxies with Multiple position Angles (SIGMA). Kinematics (rotation velocity V_rot_ and gas velocity dispersion {sigma}_g_) are measured from nebular emission lines which trace the hot ionized gas surrounding star-forming regions. We find that by z~2, massive star-forming galaxies (logM_*_/M_{sun}_>~10.2) have assembled primitive disks: their kinematics are dominated by rotation, they are consistent with a marginally stable disk model, and they form a Tully-Fisher relation. These massive galaxies have values of V_rot_/{sigma}_g_ that are factors of 2-5 lower than local well-ordered galaxies at similar masses. Such results are consistent with findings by other studies. We find that low-mass galaxies (logM_*_/M_{sun}_<~10.2) at this epoch are still in the early stages of disk assembly: their kinematics are often dominated by gas velocity dispersion and they fall from the Tully-Fisher relation to significantly low values of V_rot_. This "kinematic downsizing" implies that the process(es) responsible for disrupting disks at z~2 have a stronger effect and/or are more active in low-mass systems. In conclusion, we find that the period of rapid stellar mass growth at z~2 is coincident with the nascent assembly of low-mass disks and the assembly and settling of high-mass disks.
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