Research Infrastructure: Next-generation Very Large Array Design Activities: 2024-2026

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) has been working with the astronomical community on the development of the next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA). The ngVLA is envisaged as an interferometric array with ten times greater sensitivity and spatial resolution than the current VLA, Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and the Atacama Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), operating in the frequency range of 1.2 – 116 GHz. This project will end in the conceptual design down-select for each major sub-system within the array, and allow the transition to the preliminary design of these subsystems. Critical technical development and risk reduction activities will be included to ensure that novel leading-edge technologies that may reduce cost or improve performance are considered in the down-select. The ngVLA will be a transformative, multi-disciplinary scientific instrument that will open a new window on the Universe through ultra-sensitive imaging of thermal line and continuum emission down to milliarcsecond-scale resolution, as well as unprecedented broad-band continuum polarimetric imaging of non-thermal processes. These capabilities are the only means with which to address a broad range of critical questions in modern astronomy, including direct imaging of Earth-like planet formation in the terrestrial zone, studies of dust-obscured star formation and the cosmic baryon cycle down to parsec-scales out to the Virgo cluster, undertaking a cosmic census of the molecular gas which fuels star formation back to first light and cosmic reionization, and novel techniques for exploring temporal phenomena on timescales from milliseconds to years in this new era of multi-messenger astrophysics. The ngVLA will be optimized for observations in the spectral region between the superb performance of ALMA at sub-mm wavelengths, and the future Phase I Square Kilometer Array (SKA-1) at decimeter and longer wavelengths. The ngVLA project offers opportunities for student training, increased participation of underrepresented groups, tangible benefits to the wider U.S. research community (e.g., data archive access and the commercialization of new technologies), and positive impacts to the environment and economy of the communities that host the facility. The effort will provide supplemental funding to the NRAO Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Education and Public Outreach departments to expand their core activities to include the ngVLA. Programs that will be positively impacted include the African American Teaching Fellows, the National Astronomy Consortium undergraduate program, and the National and the Inter-National Exchange program. In addition to the broader participation and educational impacts, the ngVLA project will have a direct impact on fostering a revitalized U.S. high-tech manufacturing hub in the southwest, with precision machine fabrication and manufacturing in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.