Program: GN-2007B-Q-21

Supermassive black holes, and the activity they generate, are fundamental in shaping both galaxies and the IGM in the proximate universe and at high redshift. However, the SMBH census has been explored only in a limited way. Almost all the galaxies studied have cuspy nuclei, the range of velocity dispersion (sigma) is limited, no systematic investigation of environment or Hubble type has been possible. Models of galaxy evolution indicate a wide range of assembly histories which could produce variations in the Mbh-sigma relation. The Gemini LGS+AO system with the NIFS opens up the possibility of a systematic investigation. Since a robust determination of Mbh requires a combination of large scale and high spatial resolution integral-field data, we propose to observe with NIFS all galaxies from the SAURON sample for which it is possible to guide on their nuclei. As the first step in a large project to investigate the Mbh-sigma relation, we propose here to observe two galaxies with nuclear properties representative of the whole SAURON+NIFS sample.