Stellar population gradients and spatially resolved kinematics in
  luminous post-starburst galaxies
  We have used deep integral field spectroscopy obtained with the GMOS
instrument on Gemini-North to determine the spatial distribution of the
post-starburst stellar population in four luminous E+A galaxies at z<0.04. We
find all four galaxies have centrally-concentrated gradients in the young
stellar population contained within the central ~1 kpc. This is in agreement
with the Balmer line gradients found in local low luminosity E+A galaxies. The
results from higher redshift (z~0.1) samples of luminous E+A galaxies have been
varied, but in general have found the post-starburst signature to be extended
or a galaxy-wide phenomenon or have otherwise failed to detect gradients in the
stellar populations. The ubiquity of the detection of a centrally concentrated
young stellar population in local samples, and the presence of significant
radial gradients in the stellar populations when the E+A galaxy core is well
resolved raises the possibility that spatial resolution issues may be important
in interpreting the higher redshift results. The two early type E+A galaxies in
our sample that can be robustly kinematically classified, using the LambdaR
parameter, are fast-rotators. Combined with previous measurements, this brings
the total number of E+A galaxies with measurements of LambdaR to twenty-six,
with only four being classified as slow-rotators. This fraction is similar to
the fraction of the early-type population as a whole and argues against the
need for major mergers in the production of E+A galaxies, since major mergers
should result in an increased fraction of slow rotators.
