Enhanced Merger Fractions in a Reionization-Era Protocluster
Mergers play a critical role in galaxy evolution, but their relationship to their surrounding environments is unexplored at high redshift. We investigate the galaxy merger rate among 124 [OIII] emitters at $5.3 3σ$ enhancement of the merger fraction amongst all three overdense structures compared to the field. Eleven galaxies are classified as ``active mergers" satisfying both merger criteria, all of which occur within the overdensity samples. We conclude that environment affects the merger rates of galaxies at $z>6$, leading to increased specific star formation at the 4$σ$ level.
astro-ph.GA↗