Program: GN-2010B-Q-79

Observations have established that some galaxies harbor two widely spaced supermassive black holes (so-called dual SMBHs) as a result of a recent merger. A statistical study of such systems would have important implications for galaxy evolution, SMBH growth, and future gravitational wave experiments, but identifying dual SMBHs in large numbers is challenging. A promising spectroscopic detection technique has recently been suggested, which searches for double-peaked emission lines indicating two active nuclei orbiting in a single galaxy. More study is needed, however, to differentiate between the spectroscopic signature of dual SMBHs and that of ionized outflowing gas. We propose observations that aim to test and refine the spectroscopic technique for dual-SMBH detection by comparing the two-dimensional spectra of several double-peaked AGN sources to each other and to a lower-redshift sample. Our goal is to develop and establish a spectroscopic signature for dual SMBHs that can be used to identify a statistically interesting sample.