The clustering of active galactic nuclei in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We present the two-point correlation function (2PCF) of narrow-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) selected within the First Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Using a sample of 13,605 AGNs in the redshift range 0.055 < z < 0.2, we find that the AGN autocorrelation function is consistent with the observed galaxy autocorrelation function on scales from 0.2 to greater than 100 h(-1) Mpc. The AGN hosts trace an intermediate population of galaxies and are not detected in either the bluest ( youngest) disk-dominated galaxies or many of the reddest ( oldest) galaxies. We show that the AGN 2PCF is dependent on the luminosity of the narrow [O III] emission line (L-[Om]), with low L-[Om] AGNs having a higher clustering amplitude than high L-[Om] AGNs. This is consistent with lower activity AGNs residing in more massive galaxies than higher activity AGNs, and providing a good indicator of the fueling rate. Using a model relating halo mass to black hole mass in cosmological simulations, we show that AGNs hosted by similar to10(12) M. dark matter halos have a 2PCF that matches that of the observed sample. This mass scale implies a mean black hole mass for the sample of M-BH similar to10(8)..