Cosmic CARNage II: The evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function in observations and galaxy formation models

We present a comparison of the observed evolving galaxy stellar mass functions with the predictions of eight semi-analytic models and one halo occupation distribution model. While most models are able to fit the data at low redshift, some of them struggle to simultaneously fit observations at high redshift. We separate the galaxies into 'passive' and 'star-forming' classes and find that several of the models produce too many low-mass star-forming galaxies at high redshift compared to observations, in some cases by nearly a factor of 10 in the redshift range 2.5 < z < 3.0.We also find important differences in the implied mass of the dark matter haloes the galaxies inhabit, by comparing with halo masses inferred from observations. Galaxies at high redshift in the models are in lower mass haloes than suggested by observations, and the star formation efficiency in low-mass haloes is higher than observed. We conclude that many of the models require a physical prescription that acts to dissociate the growth of low-mass galaxies from the growth of their dark matter haloes at high redshift.Fil: Asquith, Rachel. University of Nottingham; Estados Unidos. Science and Technology Facilities Council of Nottingham. Rutherford Appleton Laboratory; Reino UnidoFil: Pearce, Frazer R.. University of Nottingham; Estados Unidos. Science and Technology Facilities Council of Nottingham. Rutherford Appleton Laboratory; Reino UnidoFil: Almaini, Omar. University of Nottingham; Estados Unidos. Science and Technology Facilities Council of Nottingham. Rutherford Appleton Laboratory; Reino UnidoFil: Knebe, Alexander. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; EspañaFil: Gonzalez-Perez, Violeta. University of Durham; Reino UnidoFil: Benson, Andrew. Carnegie Observatories; Estados UnidosFil: Blaizot, Jeremy. Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1; FranciaFil: Carretero, Jorge. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Castander, Francisco J.. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Cattaneo, Andrea. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Cora, Sofia Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Croton, Darren J.. Swinburne University Of Technology; AustraliaFil: Devriendt, Julien E.. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Fontanot, Fabio. Osservatorio Astronomico Di Trieste; ItaliaFil: Gargiulo, Ignacio Daniel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Hartley, Will. Colegio Universitario de Londres; Reino UnidoFil: Henriques, Bruno. Gobierno de la República Federal de Alemania. Max Planck Institut für Astrophysik; AlemaniaFil: Lee, Jaehyun. Korea Institute For Advanced Study; Corea del NorteFil: Mamon, Gary A.. Institut D 'astrophysique de Paris; FranciaFil: Onions, Julian. Science and Technology Facilities Council of Nottingham. Rutherford Appleton Laboratory; Reino Unido. University of Nottingham; Estados UnidosFil: Padilla, Nelson D.. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Universidad Católica de Chile; ChileFil: Power, Chris. University of Western Australia; AustraliaFil: Srisawat, Chaichalit. University of Sussex; Reino UnidoFil: Stevens, Adam R.H.. Swinburne University Of Technology; Australia. University of Western Australia; AustraliaFil: Thomas, Peter A.. University of Sussex; Reino UnidoFil: Vega Martínez, Cristian Antonio. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; España. Science and Technology Facilities Council of Nottingham. Rutherford Appleton Laboratory; Reino Unido. University of Nottingham; Estados UnidosFil: Yi, Sukyoung K.. Yonsei University; Corea del Su