The globular clusters-stellar haloes connection in early type galaxies
  This paper explores if, and to what an extent, the stellar populations of
early type galaxies can be traced through the colour distribution of their
globular cluster systems. The analysis, based on a galaxy sample from the Virgo
ACS data, is an extension of a previous approach that has been successful in
the cases of the giant ellipticals NGC 1399 and NGC 4486, and assumes that the
two dominant GC populations form along diffuse stellar populations sharing the
cluster chemical abundances and spatial distributions. The results show that a)
Integrated galaxy colours can be matched to within the photometric
uncertainties and are consistent with a narrow range of ages; b) The inferred
mass to luminosity ratios and stellar masses are within the range of values
available in the literature; c) Most globular cluster systems occupy a thick
plane in the volume space defined by the cluster formation efficiency, total
stellar mass and projected surface mass density. The formation efficiency
parameter of the red clusters shows a dependency with projected stellar mass
density that is absent for the blue globulars. In turn, the brightest galaxies
appear clearly detached from that plane as a possible consequence of major past
mergers; d) The stellar mass-metallicity relation is relatively shallow but
shows a slope change at $M_*\approx 10^{10} M_\odot$. Galaxies with smaller
stellar masses show predominantly unimodal globular cluster colour
distributions. This result may indicate that less massive galaxies are not able
to retain chemically enriched intestellar matter.
