RECOVERING THE INTRINSIC METALLICITY DISTRIBUTION OF ELLIPTIC GALAXIES

We address the problem of deriving, from the observed projected metall icity gradients, the intrinsic metallicity distribution of elliptical galaxies as a function of their integrals of motion. The method is ill ustrated by an application to anisotropic spherical Hernquist models. We also compare the derived metallicity distribution with those expect ed from two very simple models of galaxy formation, and find that the more dissipative scheme agrees better with the typical metallicity dis tribution of ellipticals.