The ALMA Phasing Project: New Frontiers in Ultra-High Resolution Astronomy Enabled by a Beamformed ALMA

The Atacama Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Phasing Project (APP) is an ongoing ALMA Development Project that will provide the means to coherently sum all of the individual ALMA antennas, allowing them to effectively function as a single aperture. This capability will allow ALMA to participate in global Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) networks operating in the millimeter and submillimeter, offering a dramatic improvement in sensitivity. This will in turn afford a wide range of new ultra-high angular resolution science applications. This poster will provide an overview of the APP design and implementation plan and highlight examples of new science enabled by a beamformed ALMA (including the study of black holes on Event Horizon scales, the detailed investigation of the launch and collimation of astrophysical jets, and astrometry of astrophysical masers with unprecedented precision). Commissioning and Science Verification of the APP is slated to begin in early 2014.