The Universe on Very Large Scales: A View from the Las Campanas Redshift Survey

Abstract

The Las Campanas Redshift Survey (LCRS) is among the first galaxy redshift surveys to sample a reasonably fair volume of the local Universe. On the largest scales (>> 100/h Mpc), the galaxy distribution appears smooth; on relatively small scales (<10/h Mpc), the LCRS tends to confirm the clustering characteristics observed in previous, shallower surveys. Here, however, we concern ourselves primarily with clustering on scales near the transition to homogeneity (50-200/h Mpc). We conclude that the general evidence tends to support enhanced clustering on ~ 100/h Mpc scales, but that this result should be confirmed with additional analyses of the LCRS dataset (especially 2D analyses) and with investigations of new and upcoming large-scale surveys covering different regions and/or having different selection effects.