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Description
We measure the number of companions per galaxy (N_c_) as a function of r-band absolute magnitude for both the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (DR5) and the Croton and coworkers semianalytic catalog, 2006MNRAS.365...11C, applied to the Millennium Run simulation (Springel et al., 2005Natur.435..629S). For close pairs with projected separations of 5-20kpc/h, velocity differences less than 500km/s, and luminosity ratios between 1:2 and 2:1, we find good agreement between the observations and simulations, with N_c_ consistently close to 0.02 over the range -22<M_r_<-18. For larger pair separations, N_c_(M_r_) instead becomes increasingly steep toward the faint end, implying that luminosity-dependent clustering plays an important role on small scales. Using the simulations to assess and correct for projection effects, we infer that the real-space N_c_(M_r_) for close pairs peaks at about M^*^ and declines by at least a factor of 2 as M_r_ becomes fainter. Conversely, by measuring the number density of close companions, we estimate that at least 90% of all major mergers occur between galaxies which are fainter than L^*^. Finally, measurements of the luminosity density of close companions indicate that L^*^ galaxies likely dominate in terms of the overall importance of major mergers in the evolution of galaxy populations at low redshift.
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