We investigate the evolution of galaxy clustering for galaxies in the redshift range 2.0 < z < 5.0 using the VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey ( VUDS ) .
We present the projected ( real-space ) two-point correlation function w _ { p } ( r _ { p } ) measured by using 3022 galaxies with robust spectroscopic redshifts in two independent fields ( COSMOS and VVDS-02h ) covering in total 0.8 deg ^ { 2 } .
We quantify how the scale dependent clustering amplitude r _ { 0 } changes with redshift making use of mock samples to evaluate and correct the survey selection function .
Using a power-law model \xi ( r ) = ( r / r _ { 0 } ) ^ { - \gamma } we find that the correlation function for the general population is best fit by a model with a clustering length r _ { 0 } = 3.95 ^ { +0.48 } _ { -0.54 } \textrm { h } ^ { -1 } \textrm { Mpc } and slope \gamma = 1.8 ^ { +0.02 } _ { -0.06 } at z \sim 2.5 , r _ { 0 } = 4.35 \pm 0.60 \textrm { h } ^ { -1 } \textrm { Mpc } and \gamma = 1.6 ^ { +0.12 } _ { -0.13 } at z \sim 3.5 .
We use these clustering parameters to derive the large-scale linear galaxy bias b _ { L } ^ { PL } , between galaxies and dark matter .
We find b _ { L } ^ { PL } = 2.68 \pm 0.22 at redshift z \sim 3 ( assuming \sigma _ { 8 } = 0.8 ) , significantly higher than found at intermediate and low redshifts .
We fit an HOD model to the data and we obtain that the average halo mass at redshift z \sim 3 is M _ { h } = 10 ^ { 11.75 \pm 0.23 } \textrm { h } ^ { -1 } \textrm { M } _ { \odot } .
From this fit we confirm that the large-scale linear galaxy bias is relatively high at b _ { L } ^ { HOD } = 2.82 \pm 0.27 .
Comparing these measurements with similar measurements at lower redshifts we infer that the star-forming population of galaxies at z \sim 3 should evolve into the massive and bright ( M _ { r } < -21.5 ) galaxy population which typically occupy haloes of mass \langle M _ { h } \rangle = 10 ^ { 13.9 } h ^ { -1 } M _ { \odot } at redshift z = 0 .