ALMA-Japan Activities

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This award supports work performed by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) on the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) under a contract to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The NAOJ desires NRAO to design and produce sensitive detector components for ALMA. ALMA enables transformational research into the physics of the cold Universe, regions that are optically dark but shine brightly in the millimeter/submillimeter portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Within the broad range of science accessible with ALMA, the top-level objectives include imaging the redshifted dust continuum and molecular line emission from evolving galaxies as early as a redshift of z~10 (500 million years after the Big Bang), determining the chemical composition and dynamics of star-forming gas in normal galaxies like the Milky Way but at z~3 (75% of the way across the Universe), and measuring the gas kinematics in young disks in nearby star-forming clouds. ALMA has already demonstrated its revolutionary impact with its dramatic images of planet, star and galaxy formation. These results will accelerate as the full array becomes operational, and with the longest baselines ALMA will achieve an angular resolution of tens of milli-arseconds. ALMA provides one to two orders-of-magnitude improvement over previous facilities in all areas of millimeter- and submillimeter-wave observations, including sensitivity, angular resolution and image fidelity.NRAO will design and produce ALMA Band 1 (35-50 GHz) low noise amplifiers and associated test and support equipment. The specific details regarding performance, materials, schedules, and other conditions are subject to the provisions of the Statements of Work and contracts between AUI/NRAO and NAOJ.