Clustering of i-dropout galaxies at z=6 in GOODS and the UDF

Abstract

We measured the angular clustering at z~6 from a large sample of i-dropout galaxies (293 with z<27.5 from GOODS and 95 with z<29.0 from the UDF). Our largest and most complete subsample (having L>0.5L*) shows the presence of clustering at 94% significance. For this sample we derive a (co-moving) correlation length of r_0=4.5^{+2.1}_{-3.2} h_{72}^{-1} Mpc and bias b=4.1^{+1.5}_{-2.6}, using an accurate model for the redshift distribution. No clustering could be detected in the much deeper but significantly smaller UDF, yielding b<4.4 (1 sigma). We compare our findings to Lyman break galaxies at z=3-5 at a fixed luminosity. Our best estimate of the bias parameter implies that i-dropouts are hosted by dark matter halos having masses of ~10^11 M_sun, similar to that of V-dropouts at z~5. We evaluate a recent claim that at z>5 star formation might have occurred more efficiently compared to that at z=3-4. This may provide an explanation for the very mild evolution observed in the UV luminosity density between z=6 and z=3. Although our results are consistent with such a scenario, the errors are too large to find conclusive evidence for this.