Aims. We present and release photometric redshifts for a uniquely large and deep sample of 522286 objects with i AB ≤ 25 in the Canada-France Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) "Deep Survey" fields D1, D2, D3, and D4, which cover a total effective area of 3.2 deg 2 . Methods. We use 3241 spectroscopic redshifts with 0 ≤ z ≤ 5 from the VIMOS VLT Deep Survey (VVDS) as a calibration and training set to derive these photometric redshifts. Using the "Le Phare" photometric redshift code, we developed a robust calibration method based on an iterative zero-point refinement combined with a template optimisation procedure and the application of a Bayesian approach. This method removes systematic trends in the photometric redshifts and significantly reduces the fraction of catastrophic errors (by a factor of 2), a significant improvement over traditional methods. We use our unique spectroscopic sample to present a detailed assessment of the robustness of the photometric redshift sample. Results. For a sample selected at i AB ≤ 24, we reach a redshift accuracy of σ ∆z/(1+z) = 0.029 with η = 3.8% of catastrophic errors (η is defined strictly as those objects with |∆z|/(1 + z) > 0.15). The reliability of our photometric redshifts decreases for faint objects: we find σ ∆z/(1+z) = 0.025, 0.034 and η = 1.9%, 5.5% for samples selected at i AB = 17.5-22.5 and 22.5-24 respectively. We find that the photometric redshifts of starburst galaxies are less reliable: although these galaxies represent only 22% of the spectroscopic sample, they are responsible for 50% of the catastrophic errors. An analysis as a function of redshift demonstrates that our photometric redshifts work best in the redshift range 0.2 ≤ z ≤ 1.5. We find an excellent agreement between the photometric and the VVDS spectroscopic redshift distributions at i AB ≤ 24. Finally, we compare the redshift distributions of i selected galaxies on the four CFHTLS deep fields, showing that cosmic variance is still present on fields of 0.7-0.9 deg 2 . These photometric redshifts are made publicly available at http://terapix.iap.fr (complete ascii catalogues) and http://cencos.oamp.fr/cencos/CFHTLS/ (searchable database interface).Key words. galaxies: distances and redshifts -galaxies: photometry -methods: data analysis Article published by EDP Sciences and available at http://www.edpsciences.org/aa or http://dx

Observations of distant supernovae indicate that the Universe is now in a phase of accelerated expansion the physical cause of which is a mystery. Formally, this requires the inclusion of a term acting as a negative pressure in the equations of cosmic expansion, accounting for about 75 per cent of the total energy density in the Universe. The simplest option for this 'dark energy' corresponds to a 'cosmological constant', perhaps related to the quantum vacuum energy. Physically viable alternatives invoke either the presence of a scalar field with an evolving equation of state, or extensions of general relativity involving higher-order curvature terms or extra dimensions. Although they produce similar expansion rates, different models predict measurable differences in the growth rate of large-scale structure with cosmic time. A fingerprint of this growth is provided by coherent galaxy motions, which introduce a radial anisotropy in the clustering pattern reconstructed by galaxy redshift surveys. Here we report a measurement of this effect at a redshift of 0.8. Using a new survey of more than 10,000 faint galaxies, we measure the anisotropy parameter beta = 0.70 +/- 0.26, which corresponds to a growth rate of structure at that time of f = 0.91 +/- 0.36. This is consistent with the standard cosmological-constant model with low matter density and flat geometry, although the error bars are still too large to distinguish among alternative origins for the accelerated expansion. The correct origin could be determined with a further factor-of-ten increase in the sampled volume at similar redshift.

This paper presents the "First Epoch" sample from the VIMOS VLT Deep Survey (VVDS). The VVDS goals, observations, data reduction with the VIPGI pipeline and redshift measurement scheme with KBRED are discussed. Data have been obtained with the VIsible Multi Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) on the ESO-VLT UT3, allowing us to observe 600 slits simultaneously at a spectral resolution R 230. A total of 11 564 objects have been observed in the VVDS-02h and VVDS-CDFS "Deep" fields over a total area of 0.61 deg 2 , selected solely on the basis of apparent magnitude 17.5 ≤ I AB ≤ 24. The VVDS efficiently covers the redshift range 0 < z ≤ 5. It is successfully going through the "redshift desert" 1.5 < z < 2.2, while the range 2.2 < z < 2.7 remains of difficult access because of the VVDS wavelength coverage. A total of 9677 galaxies have a redshift measurement, 836 objects are stars, 90 objects are AGN, and a redshift could not be measured for 961 objects. There are 1065 galaxies with a measured redshift z ≥ 1.4. When considering only the primary spectroscopic targets, the survey reaches a redshift measurement completeness of 78% overall (93% including less reliable flag 1 objects), with a spatial sampling of the population of galaxies of ∼25% and ∼30% in the VVDS-02h and VVDS-CDFS respectively. The redshift accuracy measured from repeated observations with VIMOS and comparison to other surveys is ∼276 km s −1. From this sample we are able to present for the first time the redshift distribution of a magnitude-limited spectroscopic sample down to I AB = 24. The redshift distribution N(z) has a median of z = 0.62, z = 0.65, z = 0.70, and z = 0.76, for magnitudelimited samples with I AB ≤ 22.5, 23.0, 23.5 and 24.0 respectively. A high redshift tail above redshift 2 and up to redshift 5 becomes readily apparent for I AB > 23.5, probing the bright star-forming population of galaxies. This sample provides an unprecedented dataset to study galaxy evolution over ∼90% of the life of the universe.

We present a detailed analysis of the Galaxy Stellar Mass Function (GSMF) of galaxies up to z = 2.5 as obtained from the VIMOS VLT Deep Survey (VVDS). Our survey offers the possibility to investigate the GSMF using two different samples: (1) an optical (I-selected 17.5 < I AB < 24) main spectroscopic sample of about 6500 galaxies over 1750 arcmin 2 and (2) a near-IR (K-selected K AB < 22.34 and K AB < 22.84) sample of about 10 200 galaxies, with photometric redshifts accurately calibrated on the VVDS spectroscopic sample, over 610 arcmin 2 . We apply and compare two different methods to estimate the stellar mass M stars from broad-band photometry based on different assumptions about the galaxy star-formation history. We find that the accuracy of the photometric stellar mass is satisfactory overall, and show that the addition of secondary bursts to a continuous star formation history produces systematically higher (up to 40%) stellar masses. We derive the cosmic evolution of the GSMF, the galaxy number density and the stellar mass density in different mass ranges. At low redshift (z 0.2) we find a substantial population of low-mass galaxies (<10 9 M ) composed of faint blue galaxies (M I − M K 0.3). In general the stellar mass function evolves slowly up to z ∼ 0.9 and more rapidly above this redshift, in particular for low mass systems. Conversely, a massive population is present up to z = 2.5 and has extremely red colours (M I − M K 0.7-0.8). We find a decline with redshift of the overall number density of galaxies for all masses (59 ± 5% for M stars > 10 8 M at z = 1), and a mild mass-dependent average evolution ("mass-downsizing"). In particular our data are consistent with mild/negligible (<30%) evolution up to z ∼ 0.7 for massive galaxies (>6 × 10 10 M ). For less massive systems the no-evolution scenario is excluded. Specifically, a large fraction (≥50%) of massive galaxies have been assembled and converted most of their gas into stars at z ∼ 1, ruling out "dry mergers" as the major mechanism of their assembly history below z 1. This fraction decreases to ∼33% at z ∼ 2. Low-mass systems have decreased continuously in number density (by a factor of up to 4.1 ± 0.9) from the present age to z = 2, consistent with a prolonged mass assembly also at z < 1. The evolution of the stellar mass density is relatively slow with redshift, with a decrease of a factor of 2.3 ± 0.1 at z = 1 and about 4.5 ± 0.3 at z = 2.5.