Simulations of the formation and evolution of isolated dwarf galaxies -
  II. Angular momentum as a second parameter
  We show results based on a large suite of N-Body/SPH simulations of isolated,
flat dwarf galaxies, both rotating and non-rotating. The main goal is to
investigate possible mechanisms to explain the observed dichotomy in radial
stellar metallicity profiles of dwarf galaxies: dwarf irregulars (dIrr) and
flat, rotating dwarf ellipticals (dE) generally possess flat metallicity
profiles, while rounder and non-rotating dEs show strong negative metallicity
gradients. These simulations show that flattening by rotation is key to
reproducing the observed characteristics of flat dwarf galaxies, proving
particularly efficient in erasing metallicity gradients. We propose a
"centrifugal barrier mechanism" as an alternative to the previously suggested
"fountain mechanism" for explaining the flat metallicity profiles of dIrrs and
flat, rotating dEs. While only flattening the dark-matter halo has little
influence, the addition of angular momentum slows down the infall of gas, so
that star formation (SF) and the ensuing feedback are less centrally
concentrated, occurring galaxy-wide. Additionally, this leads to more
continuous SFHs by preventing large-scale oscillations in the SFR
("breathing"), and creates low density holes in the ISM, in agreement with
observations of dIrrs. Our general conclusion is that rotation has a
significant influence on the evolution and appearance of dwarf galaxies, and we
suggest angular momentum as a second parameter (after galaxy mass as the
dominant parameter) in dwarf galaxy evolution. Angular momentum differentiates
between SF modes, making our fast rotating models qualitatively resemble dIrrs,
which does not seem possible without rotation.
