Description
This paper presents direct evidence for hierarchical galaxy assembly out to redshifts z~3. We identify major mergers using the model-independent CAS (concentration, asymmetry, clumpiness) physical morphological system on galaxies detected, and photometrically selected, in the WFPC2 and NICMOS Hubble Deep Field North. We specifically use the asymmetric distributions of rest-frame optical light measured through the asymmetry parameter (A) to determine the fraction of galaxies undergoing major mergers as a function of redshift (z), stellar mass (M*), and absolute magnitude (M_B_).
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