A SEARCH FOR DEAD QUASARS AMONG NEARBY LUMINOUS GALAXIES .1. THE STELLAR KINEMATICS IN THE NUCLEI OF NGC-2613, NGC-4699, NGC-5746, AND NGC-7331

present observations and analysis of the rotation velocities and velocity dispersions along the major and minor axes of the spiral galaxies NGC 2613, NGC 4699, NGC 5746, and NGC 7331. This work represents the initial results of a project to search for supermassive black holes in the nuclei of nearby galaxies with similar morphological types and luminosities as QSO host galaxies. We analyze the observed stellar kinematics using maximum entropy dynamical models that allow for the possibility of an anisotropic velocity distribution function. The models of each galaxy are compared to the observational data after projection onto the sky and convolution with the point-spread function. We find that for all four galaxies, models without central black holes and with constant M/L as a function or radius are able to fit the observational data. Thus, none of these galaxies shows particularly compelling evidence of harboring a approximately 10(9) M. black hole, the presumed central engine of a QSO. Dynamical models that include a central black hole with this mass are able to fit the observations of NGC 2613, NGC 4699, and NGC 5746 but do not fit the observations of NGC 7331. The dynamical models of all four galaxies that include the greatest central black hole mass consistent with the observations show velocity distribution functions that are significantly anisotropic inside radii of a few arcseconds.