The Intermediate-Scale Clustering of Luminous Red Galaxies

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal Vol. 621; no. 1; pp. 22 - 31
• Main Authors: Zehavi, Idit, Eisenstein, Daniel J, Nichol, Robert C, Blanton, Michael R, Hogg, David W, Brinkmann, Jon, Loveday, Jon, Meiksin, Avery, Schneider, Donald P, Tegmark, Max
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL IOP Publishing 01-03-2005; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Galaxy evolution; galaxies: clusters: general; Elliptical galaxies; galaxies: evolution; Color; Lenticular galaxies; Large-scale structure; large-scale structure of universe Online material: color figures; Galaxy clusters; galaxies: elliptical and lenticular, cD; galaxies: statistics; Cosmology; cosmology: observations
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.1086/427495

We report the intermediate-scale (0.3-40 h super(-1) Mpc) clustering of 35,000 luminous early-type galaxies at redshifts 0.16-0.44 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We present the redshift space two-point correlation function y(s), the projected correlation function w sub(p)(r sub(p)), and the deprojected real space correlation function y(r), for approximately volume-limited samples. As expected, the galaxies are highly clustered, with the correlation length varying from 9.8 c 0.2 to 11.2 c 0.2 h super(-1) Mpc, dependent on the specific luminosity range. For the -23.2 < M sub(g) < -21.2 sample, the inferred bias relative to that of L* galaxies is 1.84 c 0.11 for 1 h super(-1) Mpc < r sub(p) 10 h super(-1) Mpc, with yet stronger clustering on smaller scales. We detect luminosity-dependent bias within the sample but see no evidence for redshift evolution between z = 0.2 and z = 0.4. We find a clear indication for deviations from a power-law in the real space correlation function, with a dip at 62 h super(-1) Mpc scales and an upturn on smaller scales. The precision measurements of these clustering trends offer new avenues for the study of the formation and evolution of these massive galaxies.