Evolution along the sequence of S0 Hubble types induced by dry minor
  mergers. I - Global bulge-to-disk structural relations
  Recent studies have argued that galaxy mergers are not important drivers for
the evolution of S0's, on the basis that mergers cannot preserve the coupling
between the bulge and disk scale-lengths observed in these galaxies and the
lack of correlation of their ratio with the S0 Hubble type. We investigate
whether the remnants resulting from collision-less N-body simulations of
intermediate and minor mergers onto S0 galaxies evolve fulfilling global
structural relations observed between the bulges and disks of these galaxies.
Different initial bulge-to-disk ratios of the primary S0 have been considered,
as well as different satellite densities, mass ratios, and orbits of the
encounter. We have analysed the final morphology of the remnants in images
simulating the typical observing conditions of S0 surveys. We derive bulge+disk
decompositions of the final remnants to compare their global bulge-to-disk
structure with observations. We show that all remnants present undisturbed S0
morphologies according to the prescriptions of specialized surveys. The dry
intermediate and minor mergers induce noticeable bulge growth (S0c --> S0b and
S0b --> S0a), but affect negligibly to the bulge and disk scale-lengths.
Therefore, if a coupling between these two components exists prior to the
merger, the encounter does not break this coupling. This fact provides a simple
explanation for the lack of correlation between the ratio of bulge and disk
scale-lengths and the S0 Hubble type reported by observations. These models
prove that dry intermediate and minor mergers can induce global structural
evolution within the sequence of S0 Hubble types compatible with observations,
meaning that these processes should not be discarded from the evolutionary
scenarios of S0's just on the basis of the strong coupling observed between the
bulge and disk scale-lengths in these galaxies (abridged).
