All Figures

$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=8.2cm,clip]{7609f1.ps}\end{figure}$ Figure 1: Upper panel: comparison of photometric and spectroscopic redshifts in the K-selected sample for objects with highly reliable (confidence level ${>}97\%$ , i.e. about 1400 galaxies with flag=3, 4) spectroscopic redshifts. The accuracy obtained is $\sigma _{\Delta z}=0.02(1+z)^2$ (shown as solid lines) with only 3.7% of outliers, defined as the objects outside the region limited by the 2 dotted lines ( $z_{\rm photo}=z_{\rm spec}\pm 0.15(1+z_{\rm spec})$ ) in the figure. Lower panel: spectroscopic (solid line) and photometric (dotted line) redshift distribution for the same comparison sample.
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In the text

$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=8cm,clip]{7609f2.ps}\end{figure}$ Figure 2: Redshift distributions for the K-selected photometric sample (filled histogram) and for the I-selected spectroscopic sample (empty histogram).
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In the text

$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=8.6cm,clip]{7609f3.ps}\end{figure}$ Figure 3: Colour-magnitude diagram and colour distribution at different redshifts for the K-selected photometric sample (filled squares and histogram) and for the I-selected spectroscopic sample (open circles and empty histogram).
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In the text

$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=8cm,clip]{7609f4.ps}\end{figure}$ Figure 4: Effect of NIR photometry in the mass determination: ratio between masses estimated without and with NIR photometry vs. mass determined without NIR photometry. The data have been split into different redshift ranges. Left: masses determined using smooth SFHs. Right: the same, but using complex SFHs.
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In the text

$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=8.5cm,clip]{7609f5.ps}\end{figure}$ Figure 5: Histograms of the ratio of the masses derived with the smooth and the complex star formation histories. In the upper panel (z<1.2) both data from the I-selected and the K-selected samples are shown; in the lower panel (z>1.2) only data from the K-selected sample are shown, since the I-selected sample is not used to derive the mass function in this redshift range.
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In the text

$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=8cm,clip]{7609f6.ps}\end{figure}$ Figure 6: Stellar mass as a function of redshift for the I-selected spectroscopic ( left) and for the K-selected photometric ( right) samples for smooth SFHs.
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In the text

$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=11.2cm,clip]{7609f7.ps}\end{figure}$ Figure 7: Effect on the I-selected MF of the use of the statistically corrected masses, which take into account the effect of near-IR photometry on the mass determination (see text for details). Complex SFHs have been used to derive masses. Empty circles represent the MF obtained using the original uncorrected masses, filled squares show the MF obtained using the statistically corrected masses. For comparison the STY Schechter MF is shown for the subsample where near-IR photometry is available. The vertical dashed lines represent the completeness limit of the sample as defined in the text.
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In the text

$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=11cm,clip]{7609f8.ps}\end{figure}$ Figure 8: K-selected MF derived from the 2 subsamples, deep (filled circles) and shallow (empty circles), separately (smooth SFHs have been used to derive masses). For comparison the STY Schechter MF for the global K-selected sample is shown. The vertical dashed lines represent the completeness limit of the 2 K-selected subsamples.
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In the text

$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=11cm,clip]{7609f9.ps}\end{figure}$ Figure 9: Galaxy stellar mass functions in the I-selected (squares) and K-selected (triangles) using both methods to estimate the stellar masses (empty symbols for smooth SFHs and filled for complex SFHs). The STY Schechter fits for the 2 methods limit the hatched regions (horizontal hatched for the K-selected and vertical hatched for the I-selected samples). Vertical hatched regions represents the completeness limit of the 2 samples. The local MFs by Cole et al. (2001), both original and "rescaled'' version (Fontana et al. 2004), and by Bell et al. (2003) are reported in each panel as dotted lines.
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In the text

$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=11cm]{7609f10.ps}\end{figure}$ Figure 10: Comparison between the I-selected and the K-selected MFs in the VVDS (hatched vertical and horizontal STY regions, respectively, see caption Fig. 9) and the literature data (K20, COMBO17, MUSIC, DEEP2, FDF+CDFS; for each the band of selection is indicated in the parenthesis). The vertical hatched regions represent the completeness limits of the VVDS samples.
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In the text

$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=8.5cm,clip]{7609f11.ps}\end{figure}$ Figure 11: Cosmological evolution of the galaxy number density as a function of redshift, as observed from the VVDS in various mass ranges (> $10^8~M_\odot$ , > $10^{9.77}~M_\odot$ and ${>}10^{10.77}~M_\odot$ from top to bottom). Observed data from $V_{\rm max}$ (shown as lower limit in the top panel) have been corrected, when necessary, for incompleteness integrating the mass function using the best fit Schechter parameters. over the I- and the K-selected samples and the 2 methods to derive the mass, are plotted along with their statistical errors (solid error bars) and the scatter between the 2 different samples and methods (dotted error bars). The solid lines show the best-fit power laws ${\propto }(1+z)^{\beta }$ , while the dashed lines correspond to the no-evolution solution normalized at z=0. Results from previous surveys (small points and dot-dashed lines) are also shown.
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In the text

$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=8cm,clip]{7609f12.ps}\end{figure}$ Figure 12: Cosmological evolution of the stellar mass density as a function of redshift as observed from the VVDS for 2 mass ranges: integrated over the whole range $10^{8}~M_\odot \leq {\cal M}_{\rm stars} \leq 10^{13}~M_\odot$ ( upper panels) and for massive galaxies ( ${>}10^{10.77}~M_\odot$ ) (lower panels). Symbols and lines as in Fig. 11.
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In the text

$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=8cm,clip]{7609f2.ps}\end{figure}$	Figure 2: Redshift distributions for the K-selected photometric sample (filled histogram) and for the I-selected spectroscopic sample (empty histogram).
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$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=8.6cm,clip]{7609f3.ps}\end{figure}$	Figure 3: Colour-magnitude diagram and colour distribution at different redshifts for the K-selected photometric sample (filled squares and histogram) and for the I-selected spectroscopic sample (open circles and empty histogram).
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$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=8cm,clip]{7609f4.ps}\end{figure}$	Figure 4: Effect of NIR photometry in the mass determination: ratio between masses estimated without and with NIR photometry vs. mass determined without NIR photometry. The data have been split into different redshift ranges. Left: masses determined using smooth SFHs. Right: the same, but using complex SFHs.
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$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=8.5cm,clip]{7609f5.ps}\end{figure}$	Figure 5: Histograms of the ratio of the masses derived with the smooth and the complex star formation histories. In the upper panel (z<1.2) both data from the I-selected and the K-selected samples are shown; in the lower panel (z>1.2) only data from the K-selected sample are shown, since the I-selected sample is not used to derive the mass function in this redshift range.
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$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=8cm,clip]{7609f6.ps}\end{figure}$	Figure 6: Stellar mass as a function of redshift for the I-selected spectroscopic ( left) and for the K-selected photometric ( right) samples for smooth SFHs.
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$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=11cm,clip]{7609f8.ps}\end{figure}$	Figure 8: K-selected MF derived from the 2 subsamples, deep (filled circles) and shallow (empty circles), separately (smooth SFHs have been used to derive masses). For comparison the STY Schechter MF for the global K-selected sample is shown. The vertical dashed lines represent the completeness limit of the 2 K-selected subsamples.
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$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=11cm]{7609f10.ps}\end{figure}$	Figure 10: Comparison between the I-selected and the K-selected MFs in the VVDS (hatched vertical and horizontal STY regions, respectively, see caption Fig. 9) and the literature data (K20, COMBO17, MUSIC, DEEP2, FDF+CDFS; for each the band of selection is indicated in the parenthesis). The vertical hatched regions represent the completeness limits of the VVDS samples.
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$\begin{figure} \par\includegraphics[width=8cm,clip]{7609f12.ps}\end{figure}$	Figure 12: Cosmological evolution of the stellar mass density as a function of redshift as observed from the VVDS for 2 mass ranges: integrated over the whole range $10^{8}~M_\odot \leq {\cal M}_{\rm stars} \leq 10^{13}~M_\odot$ ( upper panels) and for massive galaxies ( ${>}10^{10.77}~M_\odot$ ) (lower panels). Symbols and lines as in Fig. 11.
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