  Number counts of galaxies are re-analyzed using a semi-analytic model (SAM)
of galaxy formation based on the hierarchical clustering scenario. Faint
galaxies in the Subaru Deep Field (SDF) and the Hubble Deep Field (HDF) are
compared with our model galaxies. We have determined the astrophysical
parameters in the SAM that reproduce observations of nearby galaxies, and used
them to predict the number counts and redshifts of faint galaxies for three
cosmological models, the standard cold dark matter (CDM) universe, a flat
lambda-CDM, and an open CDM. The novelty of our SAM analysis is the inclusion
of selection effects arising from the cosmological dimming of surface
brightness of high-z galaxies, and from the absorption of visible light by
internal dust and intergalactic HI clouds. As was found in our previous work,
in which the UV/optical HDF galaxies were compared with our model galaxies, we
find that our SAM reproduces counts of near-IR SDF galaxies in low-density
models, and that the standard CDM universe is not preferred, as suggested by
other recent studies. Moreover, we find that simple prescriptions for (1) the
timescale of star formation being proportional to the dynamical time scale of
the formation of galactic disks, (2) the size of galactic disks being
rotationally supported with the same specific angular momentum as that of
surrounding dark halo, and (3) the dust optical depth being proportional to the
metallicity of cold gas, cannot completely explain all of observed data.
Improved prescriptions incorporating mild z-dependence for those are suggested
from our SAM analysis.
