Clustering of Galaxies atz ∼ 3 around the Probable Damped Lyα Absorber toward QSO APM 08279+5255

Abstract
[Abridged] We present results on the clustering og Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) around a probable damped Ly-alpha absorption (DLA) line cloud at z_DLA=2.974 from deep UBVI images of the field containing the quasar APM 08279+5255 (z=3.91). The large area covered by our images, 0.31 deg^2 or 40x40 Mpc co-moving at z=3, and their depth (27.6 mag arcsec^{-2}), allow us to identify 450 LBG candidates brighter than I(AB)=24.80 at 2.7595% significance level on scales 2.5<r<5 Mpc co-moving and imply that some DLA could reside in high density regions.
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