Title:

The Mean Spectral Energy Distribution and Stellar Mass Density of 
Luminous Galaxies at z<3	



Greg Rudnick
NOAO



Abstract:

	We are rapidly gaining insight about the characteristics of
high redshift galaxies, e.g. their star formation rates, stellar
masses, ages, and morphologies.  Concurrent with this rapid advance,
however, it has become clear that traditional color-selection
techniques provide a biased view of the high redshift Universe.  This
not only complicates placing the high redshift galaxies in a proper
evolutionary context, but also makes it difficult to perform
consistent comparisons with state-of-the art models of galaxy
formation.  For example, it is only now becoming apparent which
galaxies at high redshift dominate the stellar mass and star formation
rate budgets and how these galaxies are related.  To obtain a
comprehensive view of galaxy evolution, it is now clear that it is
necessary to select galaxies in a way that minimizes possible bias and
over large enough area to mitigate the effects of field-to-field
variance.  I will present my measurements of the evolution in the
volume averaged properties of the NIR-selected galaxy population at
z<3, determined from four disjoint deep fields with
optical/Near-infrared wavelength coverage.  I will discuss the volume
averaged spectral energy distribution (SED) of rest-frame optically
luminous galaxies and how the SED allows us to calculate the average
stellar mass-to-light ratio of the luminous galaxy population as a
whole.  I then use this information to determine the evolution in the
stellar mass density in luminous galaxies, which I consistently
compare to theoretical models.  I also will discuss the contributions
to the mass budget made by different high redshift galaxy populations.