Deep Learning for Galaxy Mergers in the Galaxy Main Sequence
  Starburst galaxies are often found to be the result of galaxy mergers. As a
result, galaxy mergers are often believed to lie above the galaxy main
sequence: the tight correlation between stellar mass and star formation rate.
Here, we aim to test this claim. Deep learning techniques are applied to images
from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to provide visual-like classifications for
over 340 000 objects between redshifts of 0.005 and 0.1. The aim of this
classification is to split the galaxy population into merger and non-merger
systems and we are currently achieving an accuracy of 91.5%. Stellar masses and
star formation rates are also estimated using panchromatic data for the entire
galaxy population. With these preliminary data, the mergers are placed onto the
full galaxy main sequence, where we find that merging systems lie across the
entire star formation rate - stellar mass plane.
