ALMA2040: Understanding the Early Assembly of Galaxies - The Formation of Star-Forming Clumps and their Role in Shaping Galaxy Evolution

@misc{zanella2026alma2040,
  title = {{ALMA2040: Understanding the Early Assembly of Galaxies - The Formation of Star-Forming Clumps and their Role in Shaping Galaxy Evolution}},
  author = {Anita Zanella and Andreas L. Faisst and Rodrigo Herrera-Camus and Emily Chien and Beleen Alcalde Pampliega and Manuel Aravena and Cecilia Bacchini and Tom Bakx and Andrea Bolamperti and Leindert A. Boogaard and Marusa Bradac and Carla Cornil-Baiotto and Pierre Cox and Miroslava Dessauges-Zavadsky and Tanio Diaz-Santos and Jeremy Fensch and Jonathan Freundlich and Mahsa Kohandel and Andrea Lapi and Umberto Maio and Juan Molina and Dieu D. Nguyen and Miguel Pereira-Santaella and Francesca Rizzo and Justin Spilker and Hannah Stacey and Livia Vallini and Enrico Veraldi},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.20730},
  eprint = {2610.20730},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.20730},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - ALMA2040: Understanding the Early Assembly of Galaxies - The Formation of Star-Forming Clumps and their Role in Shaping Galaxy Evolution
AU  - Anita Zanella
AU  - Andreas L. Faisst
AU  - Rodrigo Herrera-Camus
AU  - Emily Chien
AU  - Beleen Alcalde Pampliega
AU  - Manuel Aravena
AU  - Cecilia Bacchini
AU  - Tom Bakx
AU  - Andrea Bolamperti
AU  - Leindert A. Boogaard
AU  - Marusa Bradac
AU  - Carla Cornil-Baiotto
AU  - Pierre Cox
AU  - Miroslava Dessauges-Zavadsky
AU  - Tanio Diaz-Santos
AU  - Jeremy Fensch
AU  - Jonathan Freundlich
AU  - Mahsa Kohandel
AU  - Andrea Lapi
AU  - Umberto Maio
AU  - Juan Molina
AU  - Dieu D. Nguyen
AU  - Miguel Pereira-Santaella
AU  - Francesca Rizzo
AU  - Justin Spilker
AU  - Hannah Stacey
AU  - Livia Vallini
AU  - Enrico Veraldi
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/14
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.20730
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.20730
AB  - Astrophysics seeks to explain how galaxies form and evolve through the interplay of stars, gas, and dust. Giant molecular clouds (GMCs), the main reservoirs and sites of star formation, link the cold interstellar medium to the birth of stars and stellar structures. Their properties reflect galactic disk conditions, and their evolution is shaped by stellar feedback and host-galaxy dynamics. Studying GMCs across cosmic time is therefore key to understanding how gas turns into stars and drives galaxy evolution. Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope observations reveal compact star-forming clumps in galaxies from Cosmic Noon to the Epoch of Reionization (z≈6), but their link to the molecular gas reservoir is still unclear. We do not yet know how GMC properties vary with redshift and environment, how molecular gas, dust, and young stars are arranged, or whether clumps form in unstable disks or disturbed systems. Addressing these questions requires spatially resolved observations of the cold interstellar medium at the scales probed by optical/near-infrared facilities. ALMA2040, a transformational next-generation sub-mm facility, will provide the sensitivity and angular resolution needed to detect individual GMCs in representative lensed and unlensed galaxies at z>1. CO and [CII], complemented by dust continuum and molecular-gas kinematics, will measure the molecular gas reservoir, its physical conditions, and its dynamical state. Together with JWST and the ELT, ALMA2040 will connect cold gas, dust, and stellar structures across cosmic time. ALMA2040 will revolutionize our understanding of (i) the properties and evolution of GMCs and their connection to star-forming clumps, (ii) the spatial interplay between molecular gas, dust, and young stars, and (iii) the dynamics, survival, and formation of GMCs and stellar clumps.
ER  -