Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 1991. 29: 581-625 Copyright © 1991 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved

8. GALACTIC INTERACTIONS

Galaxy-galaxy interactions are known to disrupt the stellar component of disks (Toomre & Toomre 1972), and to enhance the star formation rate (cf. Larson & Tinsley 1978, Lonsdale et al 1984). Through investigations of the molecular content along with the star formation rate, we now have a handle on the star formation efficiency in interacting galaxies.