  Merger processes play an important role in galaxy formation and evolution. To
study the influence of merger processes on the evolution of dust properties and
cosmic star formation rate, we investigate a local sample of major merger
galaxies and a control sample of isolated galaxies using GALEX ultraviolet (UV)
and Spitzer infrared (IR) images. Through a statistical study, we find that
dust attenuation in merger galaxies is enhanced with respect to isolated
galaxies. We find this enhancement is contributed mainly by spiral galaxies in
spiral-spiral (S-S) pairs, and increases with the increasing stellar mass of a
galaxy. Combining the IR and UV parts of star formation rates (SFRs), we then
calculated the total SFRs and specific star formation rates (SSFRs). We find
the SSFRs to be enhanced in merger galaxies. This enhancement depends on galaxy
stellar mass and the companion's morphology, but depends little on whether the
galaxy is a primary or secondary component or on the separation between two
components. These results are consistent with a previous study based only on IR
images. In addition, we investigate the nuclear contributions to SFRs. SFRs in
paired galaxies are more concentrated in the central part of the galaxies than
in isolate galaxies. Our studies of dust attenuation show that the nuclear
parts of pairs most resemble ULIRGs. Including UV data in the present work not
only provides reliable information on dust attenuation, but also refines
analyses of SFRs.
