Compatible systems of $\ell$-adic sheaves

We introduce a notion of compatibility for families $(\mathcal{F}_{\ell})_{\ell}$ of bounded constructible $\ell$-adic complexes of \'etale sheaves on schemes. For schemes of finite type over a field, this notion is preserved by the usual six functors. We prove that the compatibility of a family is preserved by the nearby cycles functor and by the linearized $\varepsilon$-factors introduced recently by the author. We establish independence of $\ell$ for the characteristic cycles and characteristic $\varepsilon$-cycles of compatible families.