NIR/Optical Selected Local Mergers --- Spatial Density and sSFR
  Enhancement
  Mergers play important roles in triggering the most active objects in the
universe, including (U)LIRGs and QSOs. However, whether they are also important
for the total stellar mass build-up in galaxies in general is unclear and
controversial. The answer to that question depends on the merger rate and the
average strength of merger induced star formation. In this talk, I will review
studies on spatial density and sSFR enhancement of local mergers found in
NIR/optical selected pair samples. In line with the current literature on
galaxy formation/evolution, special attention will be paid to the dependence of
the local merger rate and of the sSFR enhancement on four fundamental
observables: (1) stellar mass, (2) mass ratio, (3) separation, and (4)
environment.
