The Intermediate‐Scale Clustering of Luminous Red Galaxies

We report the intermediate-scale (0. 3 to 40 Mpc/h) clustering of 35, 000 luminous early-type galaxies at redshifts 0. 16 to 0. 44 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We present the redshift-space two-point correlation function \ (s), the projected correlation function wₚ (rₚ), and the deprojected real-space correlation function \ (r), for approximately volume-limited samples. As expected, the galaxies are highly clustered, with the correlation length varying from 9. 8 +/- 0. 2 Mpc/h to 11. 2 +/- 0. 2 Mpc/h, dependent on the specific luminosity range. For the -23. 2 < Mg < -21. 2 sample, the inferred bias relative to that of L* galaxies is 1. 84 +/- 0. 11 for 1 Mpc/h < rₚ < 10 Mpc/h, 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 ~ 2 Mpc/h 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.