The Las Campanas Redshift Survey galaxy--galaxy autocorrelation function

Measurements are presented of the observed redshift-space galaxy—galaxy autocorrelation function, ξgg(s), for the Las Campanas Redshift Survey (LCRS). for separations 2.0 <s < 16.4 h−1 Mpc, ξgg(s) can be approximated by a power law with slope γ= −1.52 ± 0.03 and correlation length s0 = 6.28 ±0.27 h−1 Mpc. A zero-crossing occurs on scales of ∼30–40 h−1 Mpc. On larger scales, ξgg(s) fluctuates closely about zero, indicating a high level of uniformity in the galaxy distribution on these scales. In addition, two aspects of the LCRS selection criteria — a variable field-to-field galaxy sampling rate and a 55-arcsec galaxy pair-separation limit — are tested and found to have little impact on the measurement of ξgg(s). Finally, the LCRS ξgg(s) is compared with those from numerical simulations; it is concluded that, although the LCRS ξgg(s) does not discriminate sharply among modern cosmological models, redshift-space distortions in the LCRS ξgg(s) will likely provide a strong test of theory.