The structural and dynamical properties of compact elliptical galaxies
  Dedicated photometric and spectroscopic surveys have provided unambiguous
evidence for a strong stellar mass-size evolution of galaxies within the last
10 Gyr. The likely progenitors of today's most massive galaxies are remarkably
small, disky, passive and have already assembled much of their stellar mass at
redshift z=2. An in-depth analysis of these objects, however, is currently not
feasible due to the lack of high-quality, spatially-resolved photometric and
spectroscopic data. In this paper, we present a sample of nearby compact
elliptical galaxies (CEGs), which bear resemblance to the massive and quiescent
galaxy population at earlier times. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and wide-field
integral field unit (IFU) data have been obtained, and are used to constrain
orbit-based dynamical models and stellar population synthesis (SPS) fits, to
unravel their structural and dynamical properties. We first show that our
galaxies are outliers in the present-day stellar mass-size relation. They are,
however, consistent with the mass-size relation of compact, massive and
quiescent galaxies at redshift z=2. The compact sizes of our nearby galaxies
imply high central stellar mass surface densities, which are also in agreement
with the massive galaxy population at higher redshift, hinting at strong
dissipational processes during their formation. Corroborating evidence for a
largely passive evolution within the last 10 Gyr is provided by their orbital
distribution as well as their stellar populations, which are difficult to
reconcile with a very active (major) merging history. This all supports that we
can use nearby CEGs as local analogues of the high-redshift, massive and
quiescent galaxy population, thus providing additional constraints for models
of galaxy formation and evolution.
