Galaxy clustering evolution in the CNOC2 high-luminosity sample

The redshift evolution of the galaxy two-point correlation function is a fundamental cosmological statistic. To identify similar galaxy populations at different redshifts, we select a strict volume-limited sample culled from the 6100 cataloged Canadian Network for Observational Cosmology held galaxy redshift survey (CNOC2) galaxies. Our high-luminosity subsample selects galaxies having k-corrected and evolution-compensated R luminosities, M-R(k,e), above -20 mag (H-0 = 100 km s(-1) Mpc(-1)), where M*(k,e)(R) similar or equal to -20.3 mag. This subsample contains about 2300 galaxies distributed between redshifts 0.1 and 0.65 spread over a total of 1.55 deg(2) of sky. A similarly defined low-redshift sample is drawn from the Las Campanas Redshift Survey. We find that the comoving two-point correlation function can be described as xi>(*) over bar * (r/z) = (r(00)/r)(gamma)(1 + z)(-(3+epsilon-gamma)), with r(00) = 5.03 +/- 0.08 h(-1) Mpc, epsilon = -0.17 +/- 0.18, and gamma = 1.87 +/- 0.07 over the z = 0.03-0.65 redshift range, for Omega (M) = 0.2 and Lambda = 0. The measured clustering amplitude and its evolution are dependent on the adopted cosmology. The measured evolution rates for Omega (M) = 1 and flat Omega (M) = 0.2 background cosmologies are epsilon = 0.80 +/- 0.22 and epsilon = -0.81 +/- 0.19, respectively, with r(00) = 5.30 +/- 0.1 and 4.85 +/- 0.1 h(-1) Mpc, respectively. The sensitivity of the derived correlations to the evolution corrections and details of the measurements is presented. The analytic prediction of biased clustering evolution for only the low-density, Lambda CDM cosmology is readily consistent with the observations, with biased clustering in an open cosmology somewhat marginally excluded and a biased Omega (M) = 1 model predicting clustering evolution that is more than 6 standard deviations from the measured value.