The Environmental Dependence of the Incidence of Galactic Tidal Features
  In a sample of 54 galaxy clusters (0.04<z<0.15) containing 3551 early-type
galaxies suitable for study, we identify those with tidal features both
interactively and automatically. We find that ~3% have tidal features that can
be detected with data that reaches a 3-sigma sensitivity limit of 26.5 mag
arcsec^-2. Regardless of the method used to classify tidal features, or the
fidelity imposed on such classifications, we find a deficit of tidally
disturbed galaxies with decreasing clustercentric radius that is most
pronounced inside of ~0.5R_200. We cannot distinguish whether the trend arises
from an increasing likelihood of recent mergers with increasing clustercentric
radius or a decrease in the lifetime of tidal features with decreasing
clustercentric radius. We find no evidence for a relationship between local
density and the incidence of tidal features, but our local density measure has
large uncertainties. We find interesting behavior in the rate of tidal features
among cluster early-types as a function of clustercentric radius and expect
such results to provide constraints on the effect of the cluster environment on
the structure of galaxy halos, the build-up of the red sequence of galaxies,
and the origin of the intracluster stellar population.
