Clustering of intermediate redshift quasars using the final SDSS III-BOSS sample

We measure the two-point clustering of spectroscopically confirmed quasars from the final sample of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) on comoving scales of 4 ≲ s ≲ 22 h −1 Mpc. The sample covers 6950 deg2 [ ∼ 19 (h − 1Gpc)3] and, over the redshift range 2.2 ≤ z ≤ 2.8, contains 55 826 homogeneously selected quasars, which is twice as many as in any similar work. We deduce b Q = 3.54 ± 0.10; the most precise measurement of quasar bias to date at these redshifts. This corresponds to a host halo mass of ∼2 × 1012 h −1 M⊙ with an implied quasar duty cycle of ∼1 per cent. The real-space projected correlation function is well fitted by a power law of index 2 and correlation length r 0 = (8.12 ± 0.22) h − 1 Mpc over scales of 4 ≲ r p ≲ 25 h −1 Mpc. To better study the evolution of quasar clustering at moderate redshift, we extend the redshift range of our study to z ∼ 3.4 and measure the bias and correlation length of three subsamples over 2.2 ≤ z ≤ 3.4. We find no significant evolution of r 0 or bias over this range, implying that the host halo mass of quasars decreases somewhat with increasing redshift. We find quasar clustering remains similar over a decade in luminosity, contradicting a scenario in which quasar luminosity is monotonically related to halo mass at z ≈ 2.5. Our results are broadly consistent with previous BOSS measurements, but they yield more precise constraints based upon a larger and more uniform data set.