We present the two–point correlation function ( 2PCF ) of narrow-line active galactic nuclei ( AGN ) selected within the First Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey .
Using a sample of 13605 AGN in the redshift range 0.055 < z < 0.2 , we find that the AGN auto–correlation function is consistent with the observed galaxy auto–correlation function on scales 0.2 h ^ { -1 } Mpc to > 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 [ OIII ] emission line ( L _ { [ OIII ] } ) , with low L _ { [ OIII ] } AGN having a higher clustering amplitude than high L _ { [ OIII ] } AGN .
This is consistent with lower activity AGN residing in more massive galaxies than higher activity AGN , and L _ { [ OIII ] } providing a good indicator of the fueling rate .
Using a model relating halo mass to black hole mass in cosmological simulations , we show that AGN hosted by \sim 10 ^ { 12 } M _ { \odot } 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 } \sim 10 ^ { 8 } M _ { \odot } .