Angular Momentum and Galaxy Formation Revisited: Effects of Variable
  Mass-to-light Ratios
  We rederive the relation between the specific angular momentum j_* and the
mass M_* of the stellar matter in galaxies of different morphological types.
This is a revision of the j_*--M_* diagram presented in our recent
comprehensive study of galactic angular momentum. In that work, we estimated
j_* from kinematic and photometric data that extended to large radii and M_*
from near-infrared luminosities L_K with an assumed universal mass-to-light
ratio M_*/L_K. However, recent stellar population models show large variations
in M_*/L_K correlated with B-V color. In the present work, we use this
correlation to estimate M_*/L_K and hence M_* from the measured B-V and L_K.
Our revised j_*--M_* diagram is similar to our previous one; both
disk-dominated and elliptical galaxies follow nearly parallel sequences with
j_* \propto M_*^\alpha\ and \alpha = 0.6 +/- 0.1. However, the offset between
the sequences is now a factor of about 5, some 30% larger than before (and
close to the offset found by Fall in 1983). Thus, our new results place even
tighter constraints on the loss of specific angular momentum by galactic disks
over their lifetimes.
