Abstract:
There are two
populations of
early-type galaxies
generally known as Core
and Power-law, when
classified according to
their central radial
surface brightness
profiles. Their
luminosity distribution
is fairly bimodal with
core profile galaxies
show a peak at M_v~ -23
and the power-law
profile galaxies are
peaked at M_v~-20.
There is also a
significant overlap
around the dividing
luminosity between the
two populations as well
as the existence of
small number of
galaxies known as
`intermediate'
population. We use the
information on the
environment of galaxies
in the overlapping
region to investigate
whether the two
populations are
predominantly driven by
the local galaxy
density.
In order to
disentangle the
intrinsic luminosity
from the environment
richness, I compare the
local environment of
luminous power-law
galaxies with that of
faint core galaxies. I
find power-law galaxies
more isolated than the
core galaxies suggesting
a strong correlation
between the two
populations and the
local density of
galaxies.
