Leading models of galaxy formation require large-scale energetic outflows to regulate the growth of distant galaxies and their central black holes .
However , current observational support for this hypothesis at high redshift is mostly limited to rare z > 2 radio galaxies .
Here we present Gemini-North NIFS Intregral Field Unit ( IFU ) observations of the [ O iii ] \lambda 5007 emission from a z \approx 2 ultraluminous infrared galaxy ( ULIRG ; L _ { IR } > 10 ^ { 12 } L _ { \odot } ) with an optically identified Active Galactic Nucleus ( AGN ) .
The spatial extent ( \approx 4–8 kpc ) of the high velocity and broad [ O iii ] emission are consistent with that found in z > 2 radio galaxies , indicating the presence of a large-scale energetic outflow in a galaxy population potentially orders of magnitude more common than distant radio galaxies .
The low radio luminosity of this system indicates that radio-bright jets are unlikely to be responsible for driving the outflow .
However , the estimated energy input required to produce the large-scale outflow signatures ( of order \approx 10 ^ { 59 } ergs over \approx 30 Myrs ) could be delivered by a wind radiatively driven by the AGN and/or supernovae winds from intense star formation .
The energy injection required to drive the outflow is comparable to the estimated binding energy of the galaxy spheroid , suggesting that it can have a significant impact on the evolution of the galaxy .
We argue that the outflow observed in this system is likely to be comparatively typical of the high-redshift ULIRG population and discuss the implications of these observations for galaxy formation models .