Kinematic Properties and Dark Matter Fraction of Virgo Dwarf Early-Type
  Galaxies
  What happens to dwarf galaxies as they enter the cluster potential well is
one of the main unknowns in studies of galaxy evolution. Several evidence
suggests that late-type galaxies enter the cluster and are transformed to dwarf
early-type galaxies (dEs). We study the Virgo cluster to understand which
mechanisms are involved in this transformation. We find that the dEs in the
outer parts of Virgo have rotation curves with shapes and amplitudes similar to
late-type galaxies of the same luminosity. These dEs are rotationally
supported, have disky isophotes, and younger ages than those dEs in the center
of Virgo, which are pressure supported, often have boxy isophotes and are
older. Ram pressure stripping, thus, explains the properties of the dEs located
in the outskirts of Virgo. However, the dEs in the central cluster regions,
which have lost their angular momentum, must have suffered a more violent
transformation. A combination of ram pressure stripping and harassment is not
enough to remove the rotation and the spiral/disky structures of these
galaxies. We find that on the the Faber-Jackson and the Fundamental Plane
relations dEs deviate from the trends of massive elliptical galaxies towards
the position of dark matter dominated systems such as the dwarf spheroidal
satellites of the Milky Way and M31. Both, rotationally and pressure supported
dEs, however, populate the same region in these diagrams. This indicates that
dEs have a non-negligible dark matter fraction within their half light radius.
