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It has long been thought that there is a connection between ultraluminousinfrared galaxies (ULIRGs), quasars, and major mergers. Indeed, simulationsshow that major mergers are capable of triggering massive starbursts andquasars. However, observations by the Herschel Space Observatory suggest that,at least at high redshift, there may not always be a simple causal connectionbetween ULIRGs and mergers. Here, we combine an evolving merger-triggered AGNluminosity function with a merger-triggered starburst model to calculate themaximum contribution of major mergers to the ULIRG population. We find thatmajor mergers can account for the entire local population of ULIRGs hosting AGNand ~25% of the total local ULIRG luminosity density. By z ~ 1, major mergerscan no longer account for the luminosity density of ULIRGs hosting AGN andcontribute \lesssim 12% of the total ULIRG luminosity density. This drop islikely due to high redshift galaxies being more gas rich and therefore able toachieve high star formation rates through secular evolution. Additionally, wefind that major mergers can account for the local population of warm ULIRGs.This suggests that selecting high redshift warm ULIRGs will allow for theidentification of high redshift merger-triggered ULIRGs. As major mergers arelikely to trigger very highly obscured AGN, a significant fraction of the highredshift warm ULIRG population may host Compton thick AGN.

The Merger-Triggered Active Galactic Nuclei Contribution to the Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxy Population