Nuker model fits (red solid lines) to the diffuse SB in the GC. Left: the data at R ≥ 1.5 pc are the azimuthally averaged, extinction corrected Spitzer 4.5 μm data from Schödel et al. (2014a) minus model to remove the contribution from components not part of the NSC. The dashed blue line is a fit with a forced inner slope of γ = 1.5, corresponding to the lighter stars in a two-component Bahcall-Wolf cusp (Bahcall & Wolf 1977). The dash-dotted turquoise line indicates the SB profile of the faint stars in the simulated cluster of Paper III. Right: the data at R ≥ 1.5 pc are the azimuthally averaged, extinction corrected near-infrared data from Fritz et al. (2016) minus a model to remove the contribution from components not part of the NSC. The orange points and line show the stellar surface density data from Paper I for stars in the interval K_s = 17.5−18.5 and blue for K_s = 16.5−17.5. For better visualisation, the stellar surface densities have been scaled by constant, arbitrary factors.