We present the results of Hi line and radio continuum observations of five nearby E+A galaxies .
These galaxies have spectra that are dominated by a young stellar component but lack the emission lines characteristic of significant , on-going star formation .
They are selected from a unique sample of 21 E+A ’ s identified by Zabludoff et al .
( 39 ) in their spectroscopic search for E+A galaxies using the Las Campanas Redshift Survey , where over 11,000 nearby galaxies were examined .
The five E+A galaxies span a range of environments : three are in the field and two are in clusters .
Only one system was detected in Hi emission , the field E+A galaxy EA1 , with a total flux of 0.30 \pm 0.02 Jy km s ^ { -1 } and an Hi mass of 3.5 \pm 0.2 \times 10 ^ { 9 } ~ { } h ^ { -2 } M _ { \odot } .
The Hi morphology and kinematics of EA 1 suggest a galaxy-galaxy interaction , with a dynamical age of \sim 6 \times 10 ^ { 8 } ~ { } h ^ { -1 } yr inferred from the Hi tail lengths and velocities .
This age estimate is consistent with the interpretation drawn from optical spectroscopy that starbursts in E+A galaxies began ( and subsequently ended ) within the last 10 ^ { 9 } yr. Our Hi detection limits are such that if the other E+A ’ s in our sample had the Hi properties of EA 1 , we would have detected ( or marginally detected ) them .
We conclude that E+A galaxies have a range of Hi properties .
None of the galaxies were detected in radio continuum emission , with upper limits to the radio power of \sim 10 ^ { 21 } h ^ { -2 } W Hz ^ { -1 } .
Our limits exclude the possibility that these E+A ’ s are dust-enshrouded massive starburst galaxies , but are insufficient to exclude modest star formation rates of less than a few h ^ { -2 } M _ { \odot } yr ^ { -1 } .