Context : The kinematic characterization of different galaxy populations is a key observational input to distinguish between different galaxy evolutionary scenarios , since it helps to determine the number ratio of rotating disks to mergers at different cosmic epochs .
Local ( U ) LIRGs offer a unique opportunity to study at high linear resolution and S/N extreme star forming events and compare them with those observed at high–z .

Aims : Our goal is to analyze in detail the kinematics of the H \alpha ionized gas of a large sample of 38 local ( z < 0.1 ) ( U ) LIRGs ( 50 individual galaxies ) applying kinematic criteria able to characterize the evolutionary status of these systems .

Methods : We obtained Very Large Telescope ( VLT ) VIMOS optical integral field spectroscopy ( IFS ) data of a sample of 38 ( U ) LIRGs .
The ‘ unweighted ’ and ‘ weighted ’ kinemetry –based methods are used to kinematically classify our galaxies in ‘ disk ’ and ‘ merger ’ .
We simulate our systems at z=3 to evaluate how a loss of angular resolution affects our results .

Results : From the kinemetry -based analysis we are able classify our local ( U ) LIRGs in three distinct kinematic groups according to their total kinematic asymmetry values ( K _ { tot } ) as derived when using the weighted ( unweighted ) method : 1 ) 25 out of 50 galaxies are kinematically classified as ‘ disk ’ , with a K _ { tot } \leq 0.16 ( 0.14 ) ; 2 ) 9 out of 50 galaxies are kinematically classified as ‘ merger ’ , with a K _ { tot } \geq 0.94 ( 0.66 ) ; 3 ) 16 out of 50 galaxies lie in the ‘ transition region ’ , in which disks and mergers coexist , with 0.16 ( 0.14 ) < K _ { tot } < 0.94 ( 0.66 ) .
When we apply our criteria to the high–z simulated systems , a lower total kinematic asymmetry frontier value ( K _ { tot } \sim 0.16 ( \sim 0.14 ) ) is derived with respect to that found locally .
The loss of angular resolution smears out the kinematic features , thus making objects to appear more kinematically regular than actually they are .

Conclusions :