ALMA Past and Future Contributions to a Full Understanding of the Baryon Cycle

The study of high-redshift galaxies is key to our global understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. In particular, the baryon cycle is a critical component of the complex interplay between the accretion of material, the physics that drives the buildup of stars out of this gas, the subsequent chemical evolution and feedback processes, and the reionisation of the Universe. ALMA to date offers an unprecendented combination of sensitivity, spatial resolution and frequency coverage in the millimetric (mm) and sub-mm domain. Together, these powerful capabilities have transformed our understanding of the (sub)mm extragalactic sky, enabled detailed studies the ISM of both local and the highest-redshift galaxies and redefined our view of the global dust and gas properties of the Universe over large look-back times. These discoveries have in turn both triggered and provided new constraints on theoretical models of galaxy formation and evolution in the early Universe. In this talk, I will point out some of the ALMA results that have shaped this new era. I also propose to highlight what might be possible for studies of the cold and distant Universe during the WSU commissioning phase as well as when the upgrade is completed.