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Mergers or interactions between galaxies play an important role in their evolution, and these interactions are expected to occur among galaxies of all mass ranges. Although dwarf galaxies constitute the most dominant population of galaxies across all redshifts, and most mergers are expected among them, studies exploring the effects of interactions in these systems are rare compared to those of massive galaxies.In this context, we conducted a FUV study of a large sample of dwarf galaxies (a total of 6176, with 195 interacting and 5981 non-interacting isolated galaxies, within the stellar mass range of 107 - 10 M⊙ and redshift range of 0.00 – 0.12) using GALEX archival data to understand the impact of dwarf-dwarf interactions on their star formation. We find clear evidence for enhanced star formation rate in interacting dwarfs compared to their non-interacting counterparts, across different stellar mass and redshift bins. Further, to understand the effect of interactions on the spatial distribution and properties of star-forming clumps in interacting dwarfs, we performed a FUV study of 26 dwarf galaxies (19 interacting and 7 non-interacting) undergoing different stages of interactions in a stellar mass range of 106 - 8 M⊙ M⊙, in the Lynx Cancer Void, using higher resolution UVIT observations (~ 3 times better spatial resolution than GALEX). An enhancement in star formation rate and star formation rate density for the clumps in the interacting dwarfs compared to the non-interacting galaxies was observed. We also find clear indications of star formation in tidal tails/bridges between interacting galaxies. To characterise these star-forming clumps through SED fits, we are performing a multi-wavelength (FUV + optical) study. In this talk, I will present the results from these studies and discuss future studies using multi-wavelength data to understand the evolution of low-mass galaxies.
BGS Office