The inner structure of very massive elliptical galaxies: implications
  for the inside-out formation mechanism of z~2 galaxies
  We analyze a sample of 23 supermassive elliptical galaxies (central velocity
dispersion larger than 330 km s-1), drawn from the SDSS. For each object, we
estimate the dynamical mass from the light profile and central velocity
dispersion, and compare it with the stellar mass derived from stellar
population models. We show that these galaxies are dominated by luminous matter
within the radius for which the velocity dispersion is measured. We find that
the sizes and stellar masses are tightly correlated, with Re ~ M*^{1.1}$,
making the mean density within the de Vaucouleurs radius a steeply declining
function of M*: rho_e ~ M*^{-2.2}. These scalings are easily derived from the
virial theorem if one recalls that this sample has essentially fixed (but
large) sigma_0. In contrast, the mean density within 1 kpc is almost
independent of M*, at a value that is in good agreement with recent studies of
z ~ 2 galaxies. The fact that the mass within 1 kpc has remained approximately
unchanged suggests assembly histories that were dominated by minor mergers --
but we discuss why this is not the unique way to achieve this. Moreover, the
total stellar mass of the objects in our sample is typically a factor of ~ 5
larger than that in the high redshift (z ~ 2) sample, an amount which seems
difficult to achieve. If our galaxies are the evolved objects of the recent
high redshift studies, then we suggest that major mergers were required at z >
1.5, and that minor mergers become the dominant growth mechanism for massive
galaxies at z < 1.5.
