Measuring the Average Evolution of Luminous Galaxies at z < 3: The Rest-Frame Optical Luminosity Density, Spectral Energy Distribution, and Stellar Mass Density

We present the evolution of the volume-averaged properties of the rest-frame optically luminous (L sub(V) > 3 x 10 super(10) h super(-2 70) L sub( )) galaxy population to z63, determined from four disjoint deep fields. We characterize their rest-frame UV through optical properties via the mean SED. To measure evolution, we apply the selection criteria to a sample of galaxies from the SDSS and COMBO-17 survey. The mean rest-frame 2200 AA through V-band SED becomes steadily bluer with increasing redshift, but at all redshifts z < 3 the mean SED falls within the range defined by "normal" galaxies in the nearby universe. We measure the mean stellar mass-to-light ratios (M sub(*)/L) and stellar mass densities (r sub(*)) by fitting models to the mean rest-frame UV-optical SEDs. The r sub(*) in galaxies selected at a fixed luminosity has increased by a factor of 3.5-7.9 from z = 3 to 0.1. If we instead use our observed M sub(*)/L sub(V) evolution to select galaxies at a fixed mass, r sub(*) evolves by a factor of 5.3-16.7. After correcting to total, the measured r sub(*) at z < 2 lie below the integral of the star formation rate density as a function of redshift as derived from UV-selected samples after a standard correction for extinction. We find large discrepancies between recent model predictions for the evolution of r sub(*) and our results, even when our observational selection is applied to the models. Finally, we determine that distant red galaxies (selected to have J sub(s) - K sub(s) > 2.3) in our L super(rest V)-selected samples contribute 30% and 64% of the stellar mass budget at z 62 and z 62.8, respectively. These galaxies are largely absent from UV surveys, and this result highlights the need for mass selection of high-redshift galaxies.