  We investigate the role of galaxy mergers in triggering AGN in the nearby
Universe. Our analysis is based on a sample of 79 post-merger remnant galaxies
with deep X-ray observations from Chandra/XMM-Newton capable of detecting a
low-luminosity AGN of > 10^40.5 erg s^-1. This sample is derived from a
visually classified, volume-limited sample of 807 post-mergers identified in
the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 14 with log M*/M_sun > 10.5 and 0.02
< z < 0.06. We find the X-ray AGN fraction in this sample is 55.7% +\- 5.6%
compared to 23.6% +\- 2.8% for a mass and redshift matched non-interacting
control sample. The multi-wavelength AGN fraction (identified as an AGN in one
of X-ray, IR, radio or optical diagnostics) for post-mergers is 76.6% +\- 4.8%
compared to 39.1% +\- 3.2% for controls. Thus post-mergers exhibit a high
overall AGN fraction with an excess between 2 - 4 depending on the AGN
diagnostics used. In addition, we find most optical, IR, and radio AGN are also
identified as X-ray AGN while a large fraction of X-ray AGN are not identified
in any other diagnostic. This highlights the importance of deep X-ray imaging
to identify AGN. We find the X-ray AGN fraction of post-mergers is independent
of stellar mass above log M*/M_sun > 10.5 unlike the trend seen in control
galaxies. Overall, our results show that post-merger galaxies are a good tracer
of the merger-AGN connection and strongly support the theoretical expectations
that mergers trigger AGN.
