I designed the conceptual workflow and led the large collaborative effort that first defined and then simulated the CTA instrument response for its main astrophysical science cases, from an initial open-ended brainstorming phase to the definition of the Key Science Programs. My contributions included the identification of gamma-ray binaries and PeVatrons, the scientific exploitation of Galactic surveys, the evaluation of source confusion, simulations of cosmic-ray propagation and interaction, studies of the CTA response to pulsar wind nebulae, supernova remnants, and pulsars, and assessments of how site selection would affect astrophysical observations, among other topics.

An initial account of the group’s work was first summarized in an article in Experimental Astronomy with the design concepts document (arXiv:1008.3703), and later in a special issue of Astroparticle Physics, which I co-edited in 2013. Relevant internal documentation from this period includes the initial report on the scientific requirements (D. F. Torres et al., SCI-LINK/121120, 2012), and successive technical reports, some of which were submitted as deliverables of an EU Infrastructure project, for which I was responsible for the science chapters. This work ultimately culminated in the CTA Key Science Programs, presented in the book Science with CTA (World Scientific, 2019; arXiv:1709.07997), which I also co-edited.