Luminosity function as a function of the absolute magnitude M_i in the SDSS i-band for different redshift bins. We have included the LF determined by Richards et al. (2005) and Palanque-Delabrouille et al. (2013) (converted to M_i magnitude). The different fitted models correspond to no contraints on the redshift behavior of M_∗ and Φ_∗ (dashed light gray line), to an evolution model for Φ_∗ and M_∗ is fitted freely (light gray line), and to M_∗ and Φ_∗ both constrained by an evolution model (continuous black line). The latter is the final evolution model chosen for the simulations, see main text for the full description.