The Kormendy Relation of HDF Ellipticals

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We present the results of the detailed surface photometry of a sample of elliptical galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field. In the (surfacebrightness-effectiveᵣadius) plane, the elliptical galaxies of the HDF turn out to follow a `rest frame' Kormendy relation, once the appropriate K+E corrections are applied. This evidence, linked to the dynamical information gathered by Steidel et al. (1996), indicates that these galaxies, even at z 2-3, lie in the Fundamental Plane, in a virial equilibrium condition. At the same redshifts a statistically signifcant lack of large galaxies [i.e. with log rₑ(kpc) > 0.2] is observed.