The LLAMA 12 m mm/sub-mm radiotelescope in the Andes

LLAMA (Large Latin American Millimetric Array) is a joint Argentinean-Brazilian project of a 12m mm/sub-mm radio telescope similar to the APEX antenna, to be installed at a site at 4800 m altitude near San Antonio de Los Cobres in the Salta Province in Argentine, at 150 km from ALMA. The scientific cases for single dish and VLBI observations include black holes and accretion disks, the molecular evolution of interstellar clouds, the structure of the Galaxy, the formation of galaxies, and much more. The antenna was ordered to the company Vertex Antennentechnik in June 2014, and the construction is progressing quickly; it will be installed at the site in 2016. The radio telescope will be equipped with up to six receivers covering bands similar to those of ALMA. Cryostats with room for 3 cartridges, constructed by NAOJ (Tokyo,Japan), will be installed in each of the two Nasmyth cabins. Among the first receivers we will have an ALMA band 9 provided by NOVA (Groningen, Holland) and a band 5 from the Chalmers University (Sweden). Other receivers are still being discussed at the time of submission of this abstract,At high frequencies, VLBI observations at high frequencies could be made with ALMA, APEX and ASTE, and Northern radiotelescopes. In this way, LLAMA will be a seed for a Latin-American VLBI network.