From local chemistry to galactic evolution: unlocking the power of interstellar isotopes with ALMA2040
Abstract
Molecular isotopic ratios provide a unique window into the chemical evolution of the interstellar medium, linking stellar nucleosynthesis and Galactic chemical evolution to the physical and chemical processes shaping molecular clouds, star-forming regions, and planetary systems. However, molecular isotopic ratios do not necessarily trace the underlying elemental composition, as chemical isotopic fractionation, isotope-selective photodissociation, grain chemistry, and radiative-transfer effects can significantly alter the observed values. Disentangling these effects requires simultaneous observations of multiple transitions, isotope systems and molecular families, including rare, doubly, and multiply substituted isotopologues involving D, 13C, 15N, 17,18O, 29,30Si, and 33,34,36S (e.g., 13C15N, 13C34S, and 13C18O). ALMA2040, with an order-of-magnitude improvement in sensitivity and at least 512 GHz of instantaneous bandwidth, will make these species accessible across statistically significant samples of Galactic and nearby extragalactic sources. By enabling systematic isotopic inventories from molecular clouds and prestellar cores to protoplanetary systems, across the Milky Way and in external galaxies, ALMA2040 will establish molecular isotopes as quantitative probes of chemical inheritance, stellar nucleosynthesis, and galaxy evolution, disentangling local chemical processing from the large-scale evolution of matter from stars to new planetary systems.
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BibTeX
@misc{colzi2026from,
title = {{From local chemistry to galactic evolution: unlocking the power of interstellar isotopes with ALMA2040}},
author = {Laura Colzi and Hayley A. Bunn and Víctor M. Rivilla and Beatrice Kulterer and Eleonora Bianchi and Maryvonne Gerin and Pamela Klaassen and Maria Teresa Beltrán and Jes K. Jørgensen and Claudio Codella and Martin Cordiner and Audrey Coutens and Timea Csengeri and Marta De Simone and Maria N. Drozdovskaya and Ana Duarte-Cabral and Francesco Fontani and Pablo García and Xing Lu and Sébastien Maret and Sergio Martín and Kazi L. J. Rygl and Giovanni Sabatini and Nami Sakai and Álvaro Sánchez-Monge and Miguel Sanz-Novo and Claudia Toci and Shaoshan Zeng and Aurore Bacmann and Maria J. Jimenez-Donaire and Miriam G. Santa-Maria and Alessio Traficante},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.21774},
eprint = {2610.21774},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21774},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - From local chemistry to galactic evolution: unlocking the power of interstellar isotopes with ALMA2040
AU - Laura Colzi
AU - Hayley A. Bunn
AU - Víctor M. Rivilla
AU - Beatrice Kulterer
AU - Eleonora Bianchi
AU - Maryvonne Gerin
AU - Pamela Klaassen
AU - Maria Teresa Beltrán
AU - Jes K. Jørgensen
AU - Claudio Codella
AU - Martin Cordiner
AU - Audrey Coutens
AU - Timea Csengeri
AU - Marta De Simone
AU - Maria N. Drozdovskaya
AU - Ana Duarte-Cabral
AU - Francesco Fontani
AU - Pablo García
AU - Xing Lu
AU - Sébastien Maret
AU - Sergio Martín
AU - Kazi L. J. Rygl
AU - Giovanni Sabatini
AU - Nami Sakai
AU - Álvaro Sánchez-Monge
AU - Miguel Sanz-Novo
AU - Claudia Toci
AU - Shaoshan Zeng
AU - Aurore Bacmann
AU - Maria J. Jimenez-Donaire
AU - Miriam G. Santa-Maria
AU - Alessio Traficante
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.21774
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21774
AB - Molecular isotopic ratios provide a unique window into the chemical evolution of the interstellar medium, linking stellar nucleosynthesis and Galactic chemical evolution to the physical and chemical processes shaping molecular clouds, star-forming regions, and planetary systems. However, molecular isotopic ratios do not necessarily trace the underlying elemental composition, as chemical isotopic fractionation, isotope-selective photodissociation, grain chemistry, and radiative-transfer effects can significantly alter the observed values. Disentangling these effects requires simultaneous observations of multiple transitions, isotope systems and molecular families, including rare, doubly, and multiply substituted isotopologues involving D, ^13C, ^15N, ^17,18O, ^29,30Si, and ^33,34,36S (e.g., ^13C^15N, ^13C^34S, and ^13C^18O). ALMA2040, with an order-of-magnitude improvement in sensitivity and at least 512 GHz of instantaneous bandwidth, will make these species accessible across statistically significant samples of Galactic and nearby extragalactic sources. By enabling systematic isotopic inventories from molecular clouds and prestellar cores to protoplanetary systems, across the Milky Way and in external galaxies, ALMA2040 will establish molecular isotopes as quantitative probes of chemical inheritance, stellar nucleosynthesis, and galaxy evolution, disentangling local chemical processing from the large-scale evolution of matter from stars to new planetary systems.
ER -