The definitive version can be found at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ Copyright Royal Astronomical SocietyThe Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey has been operating since 2008 February on the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope using the AAOmega fibre-fed spectrograph facility to acquire spectra with a resolution of R approximate to 1300 for 120 862 Sloan Digital Sky Survey selected galaxies. The target catalogue constitutes three contiguous equatorial regions centred at 9h (G09), 12h (G12) and 14.5h (G15) each of 12 x 4 deg2 to limiting fluxes of r(pet) < 19.4, r(pet) < 19.8 and r(pet) < 19.4 mag, respectively (and additional limits at other wavelengths). Spectra and reliable redshifts have been acquired for over 98 per cent of the galaxies within these limits. Here we present the survey footprint, progression, data reduction, redshifting, re-redshifting, an assessment of data quality after 3 yr, additional image analysis products (including ugrizYJHK photometry, Sersic profiles and photometric redshifts), observing mask and construction of our core survey catalogue (GamaCore). From this we create three science-ready catalogues: GamaCoreDR1 for public release, which includes data acquired during year 1 of operations within specified magnitude limits (2008 February to April); GamaCoreMainSurvey containing all data above our survey limits for use by the GAMA Team and collaborators; and GamaCoreAtlasSV containing year 1, 2 and 3 data matched to Herschel-ATLAS science demonstration data. These catalogues along with the associated spectra, stamps and profiles can be accessed via the GAMA website: http://www.gama-survey.org/

As part of a research program exploring how and why dwarf elliptical (dE) galaxies depart from the Fundamental Plane defined by luminous elliptical (E) galaxies, we have analyzed archival Hubble Space Telescope F606W images of a sample of 18 dE galaxy candidates in the Coma Cluster. We model the full radial extent of their light-profiles by simultaneously fitting a PSFconvolved Sérsic R 1/n model and, when necessary, either a central point-source or a central PSF-convolved Gaussian. Nucleation was detected in all but two of our final sample of 15 dE galaxies. When detected, the luminosities of the central component L nuc scale with the host galaxy luminosity L gal such that L nuc = 10 4.76±0.10 L gal /10 7 0.87±0.26 . We confirm that the lightprofiles of the underlying host galaxies display systematic departures from an exponential model that are correlated with the model-independent host galaxy luminosity and are not due to biasing from the nuclear component. The Pearson correlation coefficient between log(n) and central galaxy surface brightness µ 0 (excluding the flux from extraneous central components) is -0.83 at a significance level of 99.99%. Excluding one outlier, the Pearson correlation coefficient between the logarithm of the Sérsic index n and the host galaxy magnitude is -0.77 at a significance of 99.9%. We explain the observed relationship between dE galaxy luminosity and the inner logarithmic profile slope γ′ as a by-product of the correlation between luminosity and Sérsic index n. Including, from the literature, an additional 232 dE and E galaxies spanning 10 mag in absolute magnitude (M ), the dE galaxies are shown to display a continuous sequence with the brighter E galaxies such that µ 0 brightens linearly with M until core formation causes the most luminous (M B −20.5 mag) E galaxies to deviate from this relation. The different behavior of dE and E galaxies in the M -<µ> e (and M -µ e ) diagram, and the <µ> e -log R e diagram have nothing to do with core formation, and are in fact expected from the continuous and linear relation between M and µ 0 , and M and log(n).

We present an updated and improved M bh -σ diagram containing 64 galaxies for which M bh measurements (not just upper limits) are available. Because of new and increased black hole masses at the high-mass end, and a better representation of barred galaxies at the low-mass end, the 'classical' (all morphological type) M bh -σ relation for predicting black hole masses is log (M bh /M ) = (8.13 ± 0.05) + (5.13 ± 0.34)log [σ /200 km s −1 ], with an rms scatter of 0.43 dex. Modifying the regression analysis to correct for a hitherto overlooked sample bias in which black holes with masses <10 6 M are not (yet) detectable, the relation steepens further to give log (M bh /M ) = (8.15 ± 0.06) + (5.95 ± 0.44)log [σ /200 km s −1 ]. We have also updated the 'barless' and 'elliptical-only' M bh -σ relations introduced by Graham and Hu in 2008 due to the offset nature of barred galaxies. These relations have a total scatter as low as 0.34 dex and currently define the upper envelope of points in the M bh -σ diagram. They also have a slope consistent with a value 5, in agreement with the prediction by Silk & Rees based on feedback from massive black holes in bulges built by monolithic collapse.Using updated virial products and velocity dispersions from 28 active galactic nuclei, we determine that the optimal scaling factor f -which brings their virial products in line with the 64 directly measured black hole masses -is 2.8 +0.7 −0.5 . This is roughly half the value reported by Onken et al. and Woo et al., and consequently halves the mass estimates of most high-redshift quasars. Given that barred galaxies are, on average, located ∼0.5 dex below the 'barless' and 'elliptical-only' M bh -σ relations, we have explored the results after separating the samples into barred and non-barred galaxies, and we have also developed a preliminary corrective term to the velocity dispersion based on bar dynamics. In addition, given the recently recognized coexistence of massive black holes and nuclear star clusters, we present the first ever (M bh + M nc )-σ diagram and begin to explore how galaxies shift from their former location in the M bh -σ diagram.

We use techniques from nonparametric function estimation theory to extract the density profiles, and their derivatives, from a set of N -body dark matter halos. We consider halos generated from ΛCDM simulations of gravitational clustering, as well as isolated, spherical collapses. The logarithmic density slopes γ ≡ d log ρ/d log r of the ΛCDM halos are found to vary as power-laws in radius, reaching values of γ ≈ −1 at the innermost resolved radii, ∼ 10 −2 r vir . This behavior is significantly different from that of broken power-law models like the NFW profile, but similar to that of models like de Vaucouleurs'. Accordingly, we compare the N -body density profiles with various parametric models to find which provide the best fit. We consider an NFW-like model with arbitrary inner slope; Dehnen & McLaughlin's anisotropic model; Einasto's model (identical in functional form to Sérsic's model but fit to the space density); and the density model of Prugniel & Simien that was designed to match the deprojected form of Sérsic's R 1/n law. Overall, the best-fitting model to the ΛCDM halos is Einasto's, although the Prugniel-Simien and Dehnen-McLaughlin models also perform well. With regard to the spherical collapse halos, both the Prugniel-Simien and Einasto models describe the density profiles well, with an rms scatter some four times smaller than that obtained with either the NFW-like model or the 3-parameter Dehnen-McLaughlin model. Finally, we confirm recent claims of a systematic variation in profile shape with halo mass.