Evolution in the Clustering of Galaxies for z < 1.0

Robert J. Brunner, Alex S. Szalay, Andrew J. Connolly

Published 2000-05-15Version 1

Measuring the evolution in the clustering of galaxies over a large redshift range is a challenging problem. We have developed a new technique which uses photometric redshifts to measure the angular correlation function in redshift shells. This novel approach minimizes the galaxy projection effect inherent in standard angular correlation measurements, and allows for a measurement of the evolution in the galaxy correlation strength with redshift. In this paper, we present new results which utilize more accurate photometric redshifts, which are derived from a multi-band dataset (U,B,R, and I) covering almost two hundred square arcminutes to B_{AB} ~ 26.5, to quantify the evolution in the clustering of galaxies for z < 1. We also extend our technique to incorporate absolute magnitudes, which provides a simultaneous measurement of the evolution of clustering with both redshift and intrinsic luminosity. Specifically, we find a gradual decline in the strength of clustering with redshift out to z ~ 1, as predicted by semi-analytic models of structure formation. Furthermore, we find that r_0(z=0) ~ 4.0 h^{-1} Mpc for the predictions of linear theory in an Omega_0 = 0.1 universe.