Evolution of Faint Galaxy Clustering

The UH8K wide field camera of the CFHT was used to image 0.68 deg2 of sky. From these images, ∼20,000 galaxies were detected to completeness magnitudes V < 23.5 and I < 22.5. The angular correlation function of these galaxies is well represented by the parameterization ω(θ) = AW θ−δ . The slope δ ' −0.8 shows no significant variation over the range of magnitude. The amplitude AW decreases with increasing magnitude in a way that is most compatible with a ΛCDM model (Ω0 = 0.2,Λ = 0.8) with a hierarchical clustering evolution parameter > 0. We infer a best-fit spatial correlation length of r00 ' 5.85 ± 0.5h−1 Mpc at z = 0. The peak redshift of the survey (I ≤ 22.5) is estimated to be zpeak ∼ 0.58, using the blue-evolving luminosity function from the CFRS and the flat Λ cosmology, and r0(zpeak) ' 3.5±0.5h−1 Mpc. We also detect a significant difference in clustering amplitude for the red and blue galaxies, quantitatively measured by correlation lengths of r00 = 5.3 ± 0.5h−1 Mpc and r00 = 1.9 ± 0.9h−1 Mpc respectively, at z = 0.