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Abstract

Aims: In this work we aim to investigate the late evolution of ETGs, both observationally and theoretically, by focusing on the stellar mass density profile inside a fixed aperture, within $10 ~\rm{kpc}$ from the galaxy center. Methods: We first studied the stellar mass and mass-weighted density slope within $10 ~\rm{kpc}$, respectively $M_{*,10}$ and $\mathit{\Gamma_{*,10}}$, of a sample of early-type galaxies from the GAMA survey. We measured the $\mathit{\Gamma_{*,10}} - M_{*,10}$ relation and its evolution over the redshift range $0.17\leq z \leq 0.37$. We then built a toy model for the merger evolution of galaxies, based on N-body simulations, to explore to what extent the observed growth in $\mathit{\Gamma_{*,10}} - M_{*,10}$ relation is consistent with a dry-merger evolution scenario. Results: From the observations, we do not detect evidence for an evolution of the $\mathit{\Gamma_{*,10}} - M_{*,10}$ relation. We put an upper limit on the redshift derivative of the normalization$~(\mu)$ and slope$~(\beta)$of the $\mathit{\Gamma_{*,10}} - M_{*,10}$ relation $|\partial \mu/\partial \log (1+z)| \leq 0.13$ and $\left|\partial \beta/\partial \log (1+z)\right| \leq 1.10$, respectively. Simulations show that most mergers induce a decrease in $\mathit{\Gamma_{*,10}}$ and an increase in $M_{*,10}$, although some show a decrease in $M_{*,10}$, particularly for the most extended galaxies and smaller merger mass ratios. By combining the observations with our merger toy model, we placed an upper limit on $f_M = 11.2 \%$ in the redshift range $0.17 \leq z \leq 0.37$. Conclusions: While our measurement is limited by systematics, the application of our approach to samples with a larger redshift baseline, particularly with a time interval $\Delta t \geq 3.2~\mathrm{Gyr}$, should enable us to detect a signal and help us better understand the late growth of ETGs.