We estimate the galaxy stellar mass function and stellar mass density for star-forming and quiescent galaxies with 0.2 < z < 4. We construct a large, deep (K s < 24) sample of 220 000 galaxies selected using the new UltraVISTA DR1 data release. Our analysis is based on precise 30-band photometric redshifts. By comparing these photometric redshifts with 10,800 spectroscopic redshifts from the zCOSMOS bright and faint surveys, we find a precision of σ Δz/(1+z) = 0.008 at i + < 22.5 and σ Δz/(1+z) = 0.03 at 1.5 < z < 4. We derive the stellar mass function and correct for the Eddington bias. We find a mass-dependent evolution of the global and starforming populations, with the low-mass end of the mass functions evolving more rapidly than the high-mass end. This mass-dependent evolution is a direct consequence of the star formation being "quenched" in galaxies more massive than M 10 10.7−10.9 M . For the mass function of the quiescent galaxies, we do not find any significant evolution of the high-mass end at z < 1; however we observe a clear flattening of the faint-end slope. From z ∼ 3 to z ∼ 1, the density of quiescent galaxies increases over the entire mass range. Their comoving stellar mass density increases by 1.6 dex between z ∼ 3 and z ∼ 1 and by less than 0.2 dex at z < 1. We infer the star formation history from the mass density evolution. This inferred star formation history is in excellent agreement with instantaneous star formation rate measurements at z < 1.5, while we find differences of 0.2 dex at z > 1.5 consistent with the expected uncertainties. We also develop a new method to infer the specific star formation rate from the mass function of star-forming galaxies. We find that the specific star formation rate of 10 10−10.5 M galaxies increases continuously in the redshift range 1 < z < 4. Finally, we compare our results with a semi-analytical model and find that these models overestimate the density of low mass quiescent galaxies by an order of magnitude, while the density of low-mass star-forming galaxies is successfully reproduced.Key words. galaxies: distances and redshifts -galaxies: evolution -galaxies: formation -galaxies: star formationgalaxies: stellar content Based on data products from observations made with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under ESO programme ID 179.A-2005 and on data products produced by TERAPIX and the Cambridge Astronomy Survey Unit on behalf of the UltraVISTA consortium.Catalogues are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via

The relation between the stellar mass (M⋆) and the star formation rate (SFR) characterizes how the instantaneous star formation is determined by the galaxy past star formation history and by the growth of the dark matter structures. We deconstruct the M⋆ − SFR plane by measuring the specific SFR functions in several stellar mass bins from z = 0.2 out to z = 1.4 (specific SFR = SFR/M⋆, noted sSFR). Our analysis is primary based on a 24µm selected catalogue combining the COSMOS and GOODS surveys. We estimate the SFR by combining mid-and far-infrared data for 20500 galaxies. The sSFR functions are derived in four stellar mass bins within the range 9.5 < log(M⋆/M ⊙ ) < 11.5. First, we demonstrate the importance of taking into account selection effects when studying the M⋆ − SFR relation. Secondly, we find a mass-dependent evolution of the median sSFR with redshift varying as sSFR ∝ (1 + z) b , with b increasing from b = 2.88 ±0.12 to b = 3.78 ±0.60 between M⋆ = 10 9.75 M ⊙ and M⋆ = 10 11.1 M ⊙ , respectively. At low masses, this evolution is consistent with the cosmological accretion rate and predictions from semi-analytical models (SAM). This agreement breaks down for more massive galaxies showing the need for a more comprehensive description of the star formation history in massive galaxies. Third, we obtain that the shape of the sSFR function is invariant with time at z < 1.4 but depends on the mass. We observe a broadening of the sSFR function ranging from 0.28 dex at M⋆ = 10 9.75 M ⊙ to 0.46 dex at M⋆ = 10 11.1 M ⊙ . Such increase in the intrinsic scatter of the M⋆ − SFR relation suggests an increasing diversity of SFHs as the stellar mass increases. Finally, we find a gradual decline of the sSFR with stellar mass as log10(sSFR) ∝ −0.17M⋆. We discuss the numerous physical processes, as gas exhaustion in hot gas halos or secular evolution, which can gradually reduce the sSFR and increase the SFH diversity.