Stellar Kinematics and Structural Properties of Virgo Cluster Dwarf
  Early-Type Galaxies from the SMAKCED Project III. Rotation versus Pressure
  Support
  We analyze the stellar kinematics of 39 dwarf early-type galaxies (dEs) in
the Virgo cluster. Based on the specific stellar angular momentum lambda_e and
the ellipticity, we find 11 slow rotators and 28 fast rotators. The fast
rotators in the outer parts of the Virgo cluster rotate significantly faster
than fast rotators in the inner parts of the cluster. Moreover, 10 out of the
11 slow rotators are located in the inner 3 degrees (D < 1 Mpc) of the cluster.
The fast rotators contain subtle disky structures that are visible in high-pass
filtered optical images, while the slow rotators do not exhibit these
structures. In addition, two of the dEs have kinematically decoupled cores and
four more have emission partially filling in the Balmer absorption lines. These
properties suggest that Virgo cluster dEs may have originated from late-type
star-forming galaxies that were transformed by the environment after their
infall into the cluster. The correlation between lambda_e and the
clustercentric distance can be explained by a scenario where low luminosity
star-forming galaxies fall into the cluster, their gas is rapidly removed by
ram pressure stripping, although some of it can be retained in their core,
their star-formation is quenched but their stellar kinematics are preserved.
After a long time in the cluster and several passes through its center, the
galaxies are heated up and transformed into slow rotating dEs.
