Direct observational evidence that higher-luminosity type 1 active galactic nuclei are most commonly triggered by galaxy mergers

We examine the connection between galaxy mergers and the triggering of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using a sample of 614 type 1 AGNs at $z<0.07$, along with a control sample of inactive galaxies matched to the AGNs for comparison. We used tidal features, detected in deep images from the DESI Legacy Imaging Survey, as direct evidence of recent mergers. We find that the fraction of type 1 AGN hosts with tidal features ($f_T$) is higher for AGNs with higher luminosities and (to a lesser extent) more massive black holes. Specifically, $f_T$ rapidly increases from $0.05\pm0.03$ to $0.75\pm0.13$ as the luminosity of the $[\mathrm{O\,{\scriptstyle III}}]$ $\lambda$5007 emission line ($L_{[\mathrm{O\,{\scriptstyle III}}]}$), an indicator for bolometric AGN luminosity, increases in the range $10^{39.5}\lesssim L_{[\mathrm{O\,{\scriptstyle III}}]}/(\mathrm{erg\,s}^{-1}) \lesssim10^{42.5}$. In addition, $f_T$ increases from $0.13\pm0.03$ to $0.43\pm0.09$ as black hole mass ($M_\mathrm{BH}$) increases in the range $10^{6.0}\lesssim M_\mathrm{BH}/M_{\odot}\lesssim10^{8.5}$. The fraction $f_T$ also increases with the Eddington ratio, although the trend is less significant compared to that with $L_{[\mathrm{O\,{\scriptstyle III}}]}$ and $M_\mathrm{BH}$. The excess of $f_T$, defined as the ratio of $f_T$ for AGNs to that of their matched inactive counterparts, exhibits similar trends, primarily increasing with $L_{[\mathrm{O\,{\scriptstyle III}}]}$ and weakly with $M_\mathrm{BH}$. Our results indicate that, in the local Universe, galaxy mergers are the predominant triggering mechanism for high-luminosity AGNs, whereas they play a lesser role in triggering lower-luminosity AGNs. Additionally, strong events, such as galaxy mergers, may be more necessary to activate massive black holes in more massive galaxies due to their lower gas fractions.