UPPER LIMITS TO BALMER-LINE EMISSION IN 3 Z-SIMILAR-TO-2 DAMPED LYMAN-ALPHA SYSTEMS

We have searched for Halpha and Hbeta emission in the high-z damped Ly alpha systems toward the quasars PHL 957, Q0528 - 250, and Q0836 + 113 . We failed to detect the Balmer lines with 2 sigma upper limits on Ha lpha of around 2 x 10(-16) ergs cm2 s-1, With similar limits on [O III ] and Hbeta for the first two systems. The results suggest that the we ak or undetectable Lyalpha emission in these systems is not simply a c onsequence of dust destruction, but reflects a relatively low star-for mation rate. For the Lyalpha emitting companion to PHL 957 we report a n Halpha flux of 3.6 +/- 1.5 x 10(-16) ergs cm2 s-1, implying f(Lyalph a)/f(Halpha) greater-than-or-equal-to 1.6 and suggesting that Lyalpha cannot be reduced by more than a factor of 10 in this object.