Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2004-01-06
Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc. 349 (2004) 1052
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
10 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS
Scientific paper
10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07583.x
We present a new set of dissipationless N-body simulations to examine the feasibility of creating bright ellipticals (following the Kormendy relation) by hierarchically merging present-day early-type dwarf galaxies, and to study how the encounter parameters affect the location of the end-product in the $<\mu_{e} > - R_{e}$ plane. We investigate the merging of one-component galaxies of both equal and different masses, the merging of two-component galaxy models to explore the effect of dark halos on the final galaxy characteristics, and the merging of ultracompact dwarf galaxies. We find that the increase of $<\mu_{e}>$ with $R_e$ is attributable to an increase in the initial orbital energy. The merger remnants shift down in the $<\mu_{e} > - R_{e}$ plane and fail to reach the KR. Thus, the KR is not reproducable by mergers of dwarf early-type systems, rendering untenable the theory that present-day dwarfs are responsible for even a small fraction of the present-day ellipticals, unless a considerable amount of dissipation is invoked. However, we do find that present-day dwarfs can be formed by the merger of ultra-compact dwarfs.
Capelato Hugo V.
de Carvalho Reinaldo R.
Evstigneeva Ekaterina A.
Ribeiro A. L.
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