Related papers: NIR/Optical Selected Local Mergers --- Spatial Den…
Galaxy mergers are capable of triggering both star formation and active galactic nuclei (AGN) and therefore may represent an important pathway in the co-evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes (SMBHs). However, correlated…
Merging systems at low redshift provide the unique opportunity to study the processes related to star formation in a variety of environments that presumably resemble those seen at higher redshifts. Previous studies of distant starbursting…
We present a comprehensive analysis of galaxy close-pair fractions and major merger rates to evaluate the importance of mergers in the hierarchical growth of galaxies over cosmic time. This study focuses on the previously poorly understood…
This study investigated the relation between the surface density of star formation rate (SFR) ($\Sigma_{\mathrm{SFR}}$), stellar mass ($\Sigma_{M_{\ast}}$), and molecular gas mass ($\Sigma_{M_\mathrm{mol}}$) on nearly 1 kpc scales averaged…
This paper reviews the recent results from a comprehensive investigation of the most luminous mergers in the local universe, the ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) and the quasars. First, the frequency of occurrence and importance of…
Using artificial neural network (ANN) predictions of total infra-red luminosities (LIR), we compare the host galaxy star formation rates (SFRs) of ~21,000 optically selected active galactic nuclei (AGN), 466 low excitation radio galaxies…
The role of feedback in triggering or quenching star formation and hence driving galaxy evolution can be directly studied with high resolution integral field observations. The manifestation of feedback in shocks is particularly important to…
We use a suite of semi-empirical models to predict galaxy merger rates and contributions to bulge growth as functions of merger mass, redshift, and mass ratio. The models use empirical halo occupation constraints to identify mergers,…
The star formation history of the universe shows strong evolution with cosmological epoch. Although we know mergers between galaxies can cause luminous bursts of star formation, the relative importance of such mergers to the global star…
We present near-infrared integral field spectroscopy of the central kiloparsec of 17 nearby luminous and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies undergoing major mergers. These observations were taken with OSIRIS assisted by the Keck I and II…
We present a measurement of the galaxy merger fraction and number density from observations in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field for 0.5<z<2.5. We fit the combination of broadband data and slitless spectroscopy of 1308 galaxies with stellar…
We compare mass-selected close pairs at z > 1 with the intrinsic galaxy merger rate in the Illustris Simulations. To do so, we construct three 140 arcmin^2 lightcone catalogs and measure pair fractions, finding that they change little or…
We explore a model in which efficient star formation in galaxies is triggered by merging satellites. We show that the merger/interaction rates predicted by hierarchical galaxy formation models depend strongly on galaxy mass. If a merger of…
We present CO observations of 78 spiral galaxies in local merger pairs. These galaxies representa subsample of a Ks-band selected sample consisting of 88 close major-merger pairs (HKPAIRs), 44 spiral-spiral (S+S) pairs and 44…
Galaxy mergers are known to trigger both extended and central star formation. However, what remains to be understood is whether this triggered star formation is facilitated by enhanced star formation efficiencies, or an abundance of…
We present results of a statistical study of the cosmic evolution of the mass dependent major-merger rate since z=1. A stellar mass limited sample of close major-merger pairs (the CPAIR sample) was selected from the archive of the COSMOS…
We study the morphology and star formation properties of 159 local luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) using multi-color images from Data Release 2 (DR2) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The LIRGs are selected from a cross-correlation…
Galaxy clusters provide powerful laboratories for the study of galaxy evolution, particularly the origin of correlations of morphology and star formation rate (SFR) with density. We construct visible to MIR spectral energy distributions…
To study the relevance of mergers for the fueling of QSOs, we are currently conducting an HST imaging campaign of a sample of QSO host galaxies classified as ellipticals in the literature. Here, we present results from a study of the first…
The star formation rate history of galactic objects in hydrodynamical cosmological simulations are analyzed in relation to their merger histories. The findings suggest that massive mergers produce more efficient starbursts and that,…