The Relation between Globular Cluster Systems and Supermassive Black Holes in Spiral Galaxies. III. The Link to the M •–M * Correlation

Abstract

We continue to explore the relationship between the total number of globular clusters (GCs), N GC, and the central black hole mass, M •, in spiral galaxies. We present here results for the Sab galaxies NGC 3368, NGC 4736 (M94), and NGC 4826 (M64), and the Sm galaxy NGC 4395. The GC candidate selection is based on the (u* – ) versus ( – K s ) color–color diagram, and -band shape parameters. We determine the M • versus N GC correlation for these spirals, plus NGC 4258, NGC 253, M104, M81, M31, and the Milky Way. We also redetermine the correlation for the elliptical sample in Harris et al., with updated galaxy types from Sahu et al. Additionally, we derive the total stellar galaxy mass, M *, from its two-slope correlation with N GC, and fit M • versus M * for both spirals and ellipticals. We obtain log M • ∝ (1.01 ± 0.13) log N GC for ellipticals, and log M • ∝ (1.64 ± 0.24) log N GC for late-type galaxies (LTGs). The linear M • versus N GC correlation in ellipticals could be due to statistical convergence through mergers, unlike the much steeper correlation for LTGs. However, in the M • versus total stellar mass (M *) parameter space, with M * derived from its correlation with N GC, M • ∝ (1.48 ± 0.18) log M * for ellipticals, and M • ∝ (1.21 ± 0.16) log M * for LTGs. The observed agreement between ellipticals and LTGs in this parameter space may imply that black holes and galaxies coevolve through calm accretion, active galactic nuclei feedback, and other secular processes.