Radio astronomy with multiband receivers and frequency phase transfer: Scientific perspectives

The technique of frequency phase transfer (FPT), enabled by multiband receivers with shared optical path (SOP), is set to become a true backbone of VLBI operations at frequencies above 22 GHz. The FPT has been successfully implemented at the Korean VLBI Network (KVN), while gaining ever more prominent attention worldwide. Over the next few years, FPT VLBI at 22/43/86 GHz will become feasible at more than ten telescopes in Eurasia and Australia. This development would bring order of magnitude improvements of sensitivity and dynamic range of VLBI imaging at 86 GHz and deliver astrometric measurements with an accuracy of one microsecond of arc. The resulting exceptional discovery potential would strongly impact a number of scientific fields ranging from fundamental cosmology and black hole physics to stellar astrophysics and studies of transient phenomena. It is now the right moment for establishing a Science Working Group and a Technical Working Group for FPT VLBI in order to actively focus and coordinate the relevant activities at all stakeholder institutes and ultimately to realize the first global FPT VLBI instrument operating at 22/43/86 GHz.

Richard Dodson[1], Cristina García-Miró[2], Marcello Giroletti[3], Taehyun Jung[4], Michael Lindqvist[5], Andrei Lobanov[6], Maria Rioja [7, 1, 2], Eduardo Ros [6],

Tuomas Savolainen [8], Bong Won Sohn [4], Anton Zensus [6], Guang-Yao Zhao[9]

Type Report

Event workshop held on 12-14 October 2022 at the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn, Germany

[1] ICRAR, Crawley, Australia

[2] Yebes Observatory (IGN), Spain

[3] IRA (INAF), Bologna, Italy

[4] KASI, Daejeon, Korea

[5] Onsala Space Observatory, Sweden

[6] MPIfR, Bonn, Germany

[7] CSIRO, Bentley, Australia

[8] Aalto University, Espoo, Finland

[9] IAA, Granada, Spain