Concept integral field unit spectrometer instrument for the next-generation millimeter-wave cosmological surveys

Abstract. Past millimeter-wave galaxy surveys have primarily probed the brightest starburst galaxies only and suffered heavily from confusion. The interpretation of existing surveys has also been hindered by the lack of reliable redshift indicators for measuring distances for entire samples. Thanks to recent advances in millimeter-wave detector technologies, we can now overcome these limitations and conduct the first truly volumetric surveys of star-forming galaxies at millimeter-wavelengths approaching the L* luminosities of typical galaxies, with ∼1000 redshift slices spanning most of the Cosmic star-forming volume (z∼1−12) with nearly uniform mass and luminosity selection. We describe an instrument concept capable of delivering such surveys with the technologies available today, which can be built and operated on a ground-based millimeter-wave facility in the near future. Such integral field unit spectrometers can resolve and identify redshifts for up to 25,000 star-forming galaxies per year, even when operated on a 10-m class telescope. On a larger aperture, it can do the same faster or probe even deeper. We propose a collaboration open-source initiative to design, build, and operate one or several such cameras through the shared contributions of leading experts and telescopes from around the globe.