NIR/Optical Selected Local Mergers --- Spatial Density and sSFR Enhancement

TL;DR

This paper reviews how local galaxy mergers, selected via NIR/optical methods, influence spatial density and star formation rates, focusing on their dependence on stellar mass, mass ratio, separation, and environment.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of the spatial density and sSFR enhancement in local mergers, emphasizing their dependence on key galaxy properties.

Findings

Merger rate varies with stellar mass and environment.

sSFR enhancement depends on mass ratio and separation.

Local mergers significantly impact galaxy evolution processes.

Abstract

Mergers play important roles in triggering the most active objects in the universe, including (U)LIRGs and QSOs. However, whether they are also important for the total stellar mass build-up in galaxies in general is unclear and controversial. The answer to that question depends on the merger rate and the average strength of merger induced star formation. In this talk, I will review studies on spatial density and sSFR enhancement of local mergers found in NIR/optical selected pair samples. In line with the current literature on galaxy formation/evolution, special attention will be paid to the dependence of the local merger rate and of the sSFR enhancement on four fundamental observables: (1) stellar mass, (2) mass ratio, (3) separation, and (4) environment.