Resolving the Assembly of Disk Galaxies from the Epoch of Reionisation to Cosmic Noon

@misc{kaasinen2026resolving,
  title = {{Resolving the Assembly of Disk Galaxies from the Epoch of Reionisation to Cosmic Noon}},
  author = {Melanie Kaasinen and Mahsa Kohandel and Francesca Rizzo and Cecilia Bacchini and Anita Zanella and Lucie Rowland and Miguel Querejeta and Hannah R. Stacey and Andrea Lapi and Umberto Maio and Kirsty M. Butler and Gareth Jones and Emily Wisnioski and Justin Spilker and Livia Vallini and Andrea Pallottini and Belén Alcade Pampliega and Juan Molina and Pavel Mancera Piña and Corentin Cadiou and Giulia Despali and Francesco Salvestrini and Federico Lelli and Daizhong Liu and Maruša Bradač and Karina Caputi and Michele Ginolfi and Matteo Messa and Isabella Lamperti and Marcel Neeleman and Alba Vidal-García and Jeremy Fensch and Seiji Fujimoto and Jacqueline A. Hodge and Gergö Popping and Sabine Thater and Elisabete da Cunha and Leindert A. Boogaard and Manuel Aravena and Takafumi Tsukui and Deanne Fisher and James McGregor and Pierre Cox and Jonathan Freundlich and Mamta Pandey-Pommier and Miguel Pereira-Santaella and Aristeidis Amvrosiadis and Vanshika Kansal},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.21441},
  eprint = {2610.21441},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21441},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Resolving the Assembly of Disk Galaxies from the Epoch of Reionisation to Cosmic Noon
AU  - Melanie Kaasinen
AU  - Mahsa Kohandel
AU  - Francesca Rizzo
AU  - Cecilia Bacchini
AU  - Anita Zanella
AU  - Lucie Rowland
AU  - Miguel Querejeta
AU  - Hannah R. Stacey
AU  - Andrea Lapi
AU  - Umberto Maio
AU  - Kirsty M. Butler
AU  - Gareth Jones
AU  - Emily Wisnioski
AU  - Justin Spilker
AU  - Livia Vallini
AU  - Andrea Pallottini
AU  - Belén Alcade Pampliega
AU  - Juan Molina
AU  - Pavel Mancera Piña
AU  - Corentin Cadiou
AU  - Giulia Despali
AU  - Francesco Salvestrini
AU  - Federico Lelli
AU  - Daizhong Liu
AU  - Maruša Bradač
AU  - Karina Caputi
AU  - Michele Ginolfi
AU  - Matteo Messa
AU  - Isabella Lamperti
AU  - Marcel Neeleman
AU  - Alba Vidal-García
AU  - Jeremy Fensch
AU  - Seiji Fujimoto
AU  - Jacqueline A. Hodge
AU  - Gergö Popping
AU  - Sabine Thater
AU  - Elisabete da Cunha
AU  - Leindert A. Boogaard
AU  - Manuel Aravena
AU  - Takafumi Tsukui
AU  - Deanne Fisher
AU  - James McGregor
AU  - Pierre Cox
AU  - Jonathan Freundlich
AU  - Mamta Pandey-Pommier
AU  - Miguel Pereira-Santaella
AU  - Aristeidis Amvrosiadis
AU  - Vanshika Kansal
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/15
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.21441
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21441
AB  - Most of the mass and angular momentum of today's disk galaxies assembled at z>1. Yet, it remains unclear how these galaxies acquired their gas, how their baryons and dark matter coevolved, and how feedback and radial gas transport shaped their disks. Addressing these gaps requires resolved observations of cold gas, which carries most of the mass and angular momentum involved in galaxy assembly. By resolving CO and [C II] at kpc scales, ALMA revealed a surprising population of rotation-dominated disks, even at z>2, exhibiting kinematic signatures consistent with spiral arms, bars, and tidal tails. Yet, these studies are limited to massive (M_⋆>10^10.5 M_⊙) and highly star-forming (SFRs≳ 100 M_⊙yr^−1) galaxies, the progenitors of today's most massive elliptical and disk galaxies. To understand how most present-day spirals (like the Milky Way) assembled, it is crucial to resolve their low-mass progenitors, which dominate the star-forming galaxy population by number at z>1. Achieving this goal demands a tenfold increase in line sensitivity and hence a next-generation sub-/millimetre facility: ALMA2040. This leap in sensitivity will enable routine resolved studies of hundreds of M_⋆>10^9 M_⊙ galaxies, including those on and below the main sequence of star-forming galaxies, providing representative, statistical galaxy samples with sub-kpc constraints on the cold gas kinematics and morphology. By uniquely providing resolved CO, [C I], and [C II] observations across z=1−6, ALMA2040 will trace a much larger fraction of the cold-gas reservoir than is accessible today, extending resolved studies from rare massive and/or lensed systems to representative galaxy populations. In this way, ALMA2040 will transform our understanding of how galaxy disks formed and evolved.
ER  -