Red Galaxies from Hot Halos in Cosmological Hydro Simulations

Abstract

I highlight three results from cosmological hydrodynamic simulations that yield a realistic red sequence of galaxies: 1) Major galaxy mergers are not responsible for shutting off star-formation and forming the red sequence. Starvation in hot halos is. 2) Massive galaxies grow substantially (about a factor of 2 in mass) after being quenched, primarily via minor (1:5) mergers. 3) Hot halo quenching naturally explains why galaxies are red when they either (a) are massive or (b) live in dense environments.

3 Figures, 4 pages. To appear in Proceedings of IAU Symposium No. 295: The intriguing life of massive galaxies