Nine Billion Years of Galaxy Evolution: Disentangling Recent Evolution and Selection Biases in Disk Galaxies

We review the status of current observations of the fundamental parameters of intermediate redshift (z < 1.3) disk galaxies. Modern instrumentation enables detailed measurements of galaxy luminosity, morphology, kinematics and mass, in both optical and the infrared passbands. By studying well known star formation indicators, the internal velocity structure and star formation rates of galaxies can be traced through this entire redshift regime. The combination of throughput and optimum seeing conditions yields spectra which can be combined with high resolution multiband imaging to explore the evolution of galaxies of various morphologies, and to place constraints on current models of galaxy formation and star formation histories. Out to redshifts of unity, these data form a high redshift Tully-Fisher relation that spans four magnitudes and extends to well below L-*, with no obvious change in shape or slope with respect to the local relation. A comparison of disk surface brightness between local and high redshift samples yields ail offset in accordance with distance-dependent surface brightness selection effects, as can the apparent change in disk size with redshift for disks of a given mass. The effects of imaging and spectral selection are shown to be significant, dependent not only upon the broad-band luminosity and surface brightness of targets but also a strong function of emission line strength and spectral flux distributions. These results provide further evidence for modest increases in luminosity with lookback time for the bulk of the observed field spiral galaxy population.