On the Kinematics, Stability and Lifetime of Kinematically Distinct
  Cores: A Case Study
  We present a case study of a early-type galaxy (ETG) hosting a kinematically
distinct core (KDC) formed in a binary high resolution 1:1 spiral galaxy merger
simulation. The runtime of the simulation is pushed up to 10Gyr to follow the
complete evolution of various physical properties. To investigate the origin of
the KDC, the stellar component residing within the KDC is dissected, revealing
that the rotational signal is purely generated by stars that belong to the KDC
for at least 0.5Gyr and are newly formed during the merging process. Following
the orientation of the total stellar angular momentum of the KDC, we show that
it performs a motion comparable to the precession of a gyroscope in a
gravitational potential. We draw the conclusion that the motion of the KDC is a
superposition of an intrinsic rotation and a global precession that gets
gradually damped over cosmic time. Finally, the stability of the KDC over the
complete runtime of the simulation is investigated by tracing the evolution of
the widely used $\lambda_{R}$ parameter and the misalignment angle
distribution. We find that the KDC is stable for about 3Gyr after the merger
and subsequently disperses completely on a timescale of ~1.5Gyr.
