RT Journal Article T1 Formation of S0 galaxies through mergers Explaining angular momentum and concentration change from spirals to S0s A1 Querejeta, M. A1 Eliche Moral, María del Carmen A1 Tapia, T. A1 Borlaff, A. A1 van de Ven, G. A1 Lyubenova, M. A1 Martig, M. A1 Falcón Barroso, J. A1 Méndez Abreu, J. AB The CALIFA team has recently found that the stellar angular momentum and concentration of late-type spiral galaxies are incompatible with those of lenticular galaxies (S0s), concluding that fading alone cannot satisfactorily explain the evolution from spirals into S0s. Here we explore whether major mergers can provide an alternative way to transform spirals into S0s by analysing the spiral-spiral major mergers from the GalMer database that lead to realistic, relaxed S0-like galaxies. We find that the change in stellar angular momentum and concentration can explain the differences in the λ_Re-R_90/R_50 plane found by the CALIFA team. Major mergers thus offer a feasible explanation for the transformation of spirals into S0s. PB EDP Sciencies SN 0004-6361 YR 2015 FD 2015-07 LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/24170 UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/24170 LA eng NO © ESO 2015. The authors would like to acknowledge the referee for a helpful report, and the GalMer team for creating such a powerful tool, with especial thanks to Paola Di Matteo for her kind support with the database. M.Q., G.v.d.V. and J.F.B. acknowledge financial support to the DAGAL network from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013/ under REA grant agreement number PITN-GA-2011-289313. Supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under projects AYA2012-31277 and AYA2013-48226-C3-1-P.J.M.A. acknowledges support from the European Research Council Starting Grant (SEDmorph; P.I.V. Wild). NO Unión Europea. FP7 NO People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) NO European Research Council (ERC) NO Marie Curie Actions (UE) NO European Union's Seventh Framework Programme DS Docta Complutense RD 4 abr 2025