High-Angular-Resolution and High-Sensitivity Science Enabled by Beamformed ALMA

Abstract

An international consortium is presently constructing a beamformer for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile that will be available as a facility instrument. The beamformer will aggregate the entire collecting area of the array into a single, very large aperture. The extraordinary sensitivity of phased ALMA, combined with the extremely fine angular resolution available on baselines to the Northern Hemisphere, will enable transformational new very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations in Bands 6 and 7 (1.3 and 0.8 mm) and provide substantial improvements to existing VLBI arrays in Bands 1 and 3 (7 and 3 mm). The ALMA beamformer will have impact on a variety of scientific topics, including accretion and outflow processes around black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGN), tests of general relativity near black holes, jet launch and collimation from AGN and microquasars, pulsar and magnetar emission processes, the chemical history of the universe and the evolution of fundamental constants across cosmic time, maser science, and astrometry.

The science case for the ALMA beamformer is a living document with input from a broad cross-section of the astronomical community. We strongly welcome further comments and contributions

References in corpus (3)

• A strong magnetic field around the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Galaxy
• Probing the jet base of the blazar PKS1830-211 from the chromatic variability of its lensed images. Serendipitous ALMA observations of a strong gamma-ray flare
• Towards millimeter VLBI

Cited by in corpus (23)

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• Constraining the evolution of the CMB temperature with SZ measurements from Planck data
• Astrometric observations of X-ray binaries using very long baseline interferometry
• Quantum Gravity Effects around Sagittarius A*
• PRECL: A new method for interferometry imaging from closure phase
• The cosmological evolution condition of the Planck constant in the varying speed of light models through adiabatic expansion
• An Event Horizon Imager (EHI) Mission Concept Utilizing Medium Earth Orbit Sub-mm Interferometry
• The Science Case for ALMA Band 2 and Band 2+3
• Prospects for Wideband VLBI Correlation in the Cloud
• Italian Science Case for ALMA Band 2+3
• The case for gravitational millilensing in the multiply--imaged quasar B1152+199