We examine the relation between stellar mass and central stellar velocity dispersion - the M _ { \ast } \sigma relation - for massive quiescent galaxies at z < 0.7 .
We measure the local relation from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the intermediate redshift relation from the Smithsonian Hectospec Lensing Survey .
Both samples are highly complete ( > 85 \% ) and we consistently measure the stellar mass and velocity dispersion for the two samples .
The M _ { \ast } \sigma relation and its scatter are independent of redshift with \sigma \propto M _ { \ast } ^ { 0.3 } for M _ { \ast } \gtrsim 10 ^ { 10.3 } M _ { \odot } .
The measured slope of the M _ { \ast } \sigma relation is the same as the scaling between the total halo mass and the dark matter halo velocity dispersion obtained by N-body simulations .
This consistency suggests that massive quiescent galaxies are virialized systems where the central dark matter concentration is either a constant or negligible fraction of the stellar mass .
The relation between the total galaxy mass ( stellar + dark matter ) and the central stellar velocity dispersion is consistent with the observed relation between the total mass of a galaxy cluster and the velocity dispersion of the cluster members .
This result suggests that the central stellar velocity dispersion is directly proportional to the velocity dispersion of the dark matter halo .
Thus the central stellar velocity dispersion is a fundamental , directly observable property of galaxies that may robustly connect galaxies to dark matter halos in N-body simulations .
To interpret the results further in the context of \Lambda CDM , it would be useful to analyze the relationship between the velocity dispersion of stellar particles and the velocity dispersion characterizing their dark matter halos in high-resolution cosmological hydrodynamic simulations .