The Redshift Evolution of Clustering in the HDF

Abstract

We present a correlation function analysis for the catalogue of photometric redshifts obtained from the Hubble Deep Field image by Fernandez-Soto et al., 1998. By dividing the catalogue into redshift bins of width $Δz=0.4$ we measured the angular correlation function $w(θ)$ as a function of redshift up to $z\sim 4.8$. From these measurements we derive the trend of the correlation length $r_0$. We find that $r_0(z)$ is roughly constant with look-back time up to $z \simeq 2$, and then increases to higher values at $z\simgt 2.4$. We estimate the values of $r_0$, assuming $ξ(r,z)=(r/r_0(z))^{-γ}$, $γ=1.8$ and different geometries. For $Ω_0=1$ we find $r_0(z=3)\simeq 7.00\pm 4.87 h^{-1}$ Mpc, in good agreement with the values obtained from analysis of the Lyman Break Galaxies.

6 pages, 4 postscript figures, version to appear on MNRAS