The Evolution of the Hubble Sequence: morpho-kinematics of distant
  galaxies
  The main objective of my thesis was to provide us, for the first time, with a
reliable view of the distant Hubble sequence, and its evolution over the past 6
Gyr. To achieve this goal, we have created a new morphological classification
method which (1) includes all the available observational data, (2) can be
easily reproduced, and (3) presents a negligible subjectivity. This method
allows us to study homogeneously the morphology of local and distant galaxies.
The first step has been to study the evolution of galaxies using the IMAGES
survey. This survey allowed us to establish the kinematic state of distant
galaxies, to study the chemical evolution of galaxies over the past 8 Gyr, and
to test important dynamical relations such as the Tully-Fisher relation. The
information gained from kinematics is, indeed, crucial to guarantee a robust
understanding of the different physical processes leading to the present day
Hubble sequence. Using Integral Field Spectroscopy, we have been able to test
our new morphological classification against the kinematic state of each
galaxy. We found that the morpho-kinematic correlation is much better using our
classification than other morphological classifications. Applying our
morphological classification to a representative sample of both local and
distant galaxies, having equivalent observational data, we obtained a Hubble
sequence both in the local and distant Universe. Our results strongly suggest
that more than half of the present-day spirals had peculiar morphologies, 6 Gyr
ago. Finally, I present further studies concerning the history of individual
galaxies at z < 1, combining kinematic and morphological observations. I also
present the first ever-estimated distant baryonic Tully-Fisher relation, which
does not appear to evolve over the past 6 Gyr.
