(Left) SFR surface density Σ_SFR vs. Σ_mol color-coded by the mass-weighted median α _vir for the central 1 kpc region of the G2 and G3 merger during the second passage of the “e2” orbit viewed from the “v0” orientation. We include simulated data points within 2.54–2.61 (before the second passage; triangles) and 2.73–3.47 (after the second passage; circles) Gyr. Both Σ_SFR and Σ_mol are calculated as total central SFR or M _mol within a 1 kpc radius divided by the aperture size, while α _vir is the mass-weighted median of pixels inside the aperture. The two dashed lines indicate constant depletion times (t _dep = Σ_mol/Σ_SFR) of 10⁷ and 10⁸ yr. (Middle) t _dep vs. α _vir for the central 1 kpc. (Right) t _dep vs. Σ_mol for the central region. The label “rs all” shows the Spearman coefficient of t _dep vs α _vir and t _dep vs Σ_mol for all data points, while “rs after” shows the Spearman coefficient only for data after the second passage. We can see that there is no significant correlation between α _vir and t _dep, which is against our expectation that low-α _vir clouds will consume molecular gas at a faster rate.