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Notes & Caveats: Each Astro2020 science panel was effectively asked to create a partial Science Traceability Matrix for their Key Science Questions, i.e. coupling science to required capabilties, although each panel approached this in a somewhat different way. Some panels in fact listed explicit required measurements that read almost like a Level 1 requirement for a future observtory, while other panels were less specific. Furthermore, because each capability (of course) addresses multiple science (sub)-questions, any attempt to synthesize the entire report to a clean STM is futile. We therefore don't bother, and just provide screenshots of the "Required Capabilities" tables from the sub-panel reports. You will probably need to use the "Zoom" feature (under the "View" menu above) in order to see them clearly - sorry!
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Science Area (Decadal Panel)Key Science Questions (or Discovery Area)Sub-QuestionMapping of Science to CapabilitiesPrecursor Science Workshop Notes
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Compact Objects & Energetic PhenomenaB-Q1: What are the mass and spin distributions of Neutron Stars and Stellar Black Holes?B-Q1a. What do the mass and spin distributions tell us about neutron star and balck hole formation and evolution?
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B-Q1b: What is the population of noninteracting or isolated neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes?
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B-Q1c: What is the equation of state of ultradense matter?
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B-Q2: What powers the diversity of explosive phenomena across the electromagnetic spectrum?B-Q2a: When and how are transients powered by neutron stars or black holes?
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B-Q2b: When and how are transients powered by shocks?
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B-Q2c: When and how are transients powered by radioactivity?
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B-Q2d: What are the unexplored frontiers in transient phenomena?
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B-Q3: Why do some compact objects eject material in nearly lightspeed jets, and what is that material made of?B-Q3a: How do jets launch and accelerate?
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B-Q3b: What are jets composed of and how are particles accelerated within them?
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B-Q3c: Are tev-pev neutrinos and ultra-high-energy cosmic rays produced in relativistic jets?
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B-Q4: What seeds supermassive black holes and how do they grow?B-Q4a: How are the seeds of supermassive black holes formed?
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B-Q4b: How do central black holes grow?
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Discovery Area B-DA: Transforming our view of the Universe by combining new information from light, particles, and gravitational wavesEight Discovery Area sub-questions; see pages B-12 through B-15 of the report (starting on page 239 of this pdf)
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CosmologyC-Q1: What set the hot big bang in motion?C-Q1a: Primordial gravitational waves
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C-Q1b: Non-gaussianity of the large-scale structure of the universe
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C-Q1c: The initial power spectrum of density fluctuations
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C-Q2: What are the properties of dark matter and the dark sector?C-Q2a: Dark sector signatures in small-scale structure
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C-Q2b: Dark sector imprints on big bang nucleosynthesis and recombination
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C-Q2c: Annihilation by-products
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C-Q3: What physics drives the cosmic expansion and large-scale evolution of the universe?C-Q3a: The physics of cosmic acceleration
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C-Q4b: The properties of neutrinos
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C-Q3c: End-to-end tests of cosmology
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C-Q4: How will measurements of gravitational waves reshape our cosmological view?C-Q4a: The stochastic gravitational wave background
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C-Q4b: Standard sirens as a new probe of the cosmic distance scale
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C-Q4c: Light fields and other novel phenomena
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Discovery Area C-DA: The Dark Ages as a cosmological probeC-DA1: The end of the dark ages
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C-DA2: The future of primoridal density mapping
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GalaxiesD-Q1: How did the intergalactic medium and the first sources of radiation evolve from cosmic dawn through the epoch of reionization?D-Q1a: Detailed thermal history of the intergalactic medium and the topology of reionization
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D-Q1b: Production of ionizing photons and their escape into the intergalactic medium
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D-Q1c: Properties of the first stars, galaxies, and black holes
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D-Q2: How do gas, metals, and dust flow into, through, and out of galaxies?D-Q2a: The acquisition of the gas necessary to fuel star formation
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D-Q2b: The production, distribution, and cycling of metals
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D-Q2c: The coupling of small-scale energetic feedback processes to the larger gaseous reservoir
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D-Q2d: The physical conditions of the circumgalactic medium
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D-Q3: How do supermassive black holes form and how is their growth coupled to the evolution of their host galaxies?D-Q3a: The seeds of supermassive black holes
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D-Q3b: Existence and formation of intermediate mass black holes
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D-Q3c: Comprehensive census of supermassive black hole growth
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D-Q3d: The physics of black hole feedback
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D-Q4: How do the histories of galaxies and their dark matter halos shape their observable properties?D-Q4a: The dynamical and chemical history of the milky way
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D-Q4b: The threshold of galaxy formation
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D-Q4c: Connecting local galaxies to high-redshift galaxies
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D-Q4d: The evolution of morphologies, gas content, kinematics, and chemical properties of galaxies
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Discovery Area D-DA: Mapping the circumgalactic medium and intergalactic medium in emissionNo DA sub-questions from this panel
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Exoplanets, Astrobiology, and the Solar SystemE-Q1: What is the range of planetary system architectures and is the configuration of the solar system common?E-Q1a: What are the demographics of planets beyond the reach of current surveys?
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E-Q1b: What are the typical architectures of planetary systems?
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E-Q1c: How common is planetary migration, how does it affect the rest of the planetary system, and what are the observable signatures?
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E-Q1d: How does the distribution of dust and small bodies in mature systems connect to the current and past dynamical states within planetary systems?
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E-Q1e: Where are the nearby potentially habitable planets and what are the characteristics of their planetary systems?
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E-Q2: What are the properties of individual planets and which processes lead to planetary diversity?E-Q2a: Which physical processes govern a planet’s interior structure?
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E-Q2B: How does a planet’s interior structure and composition connect to its surface and atmosphere?
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E-Q2c: What fundamental planetary parameters and processes determine the complexity of planetary atmospheres?
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E-Q2d: How does a planet’s interaction with its host star and planetary system influence its atmospheric properties over all time scales?
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E-Q2e: How do giant planets fit within a continuum of our understanding of all objects?
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E-Q3: How do habitable environments arise and evolve within the context of their planetary systems?E-Q3a: How are potentially habitable environments formed?
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E-Q3b: What processes influence the habitability of environments?
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E-Q3c: What is the range of potentially habitable environments around different types of stars?
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E-Q3d: What are the key observable characteristics of habitable planets?
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E-Q4: How can signs of life be identified and interpreted in the context of their planetary environments?E-Q4a: What biosignatures should we look for?
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E-Q4b: How will we interpret the biosignatures that we see?
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E-Q4c: Do any nearby planets exhibit biosignatures?
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Discovery Area E-DA: The search for life on exoplanetsNo DA sub-questions from this panel
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Interstellar Medium / Star and Planet
Formation		F-Q1: How do star-forming structures arise from and interact with, the diffuse interstellar medium?F-Q1a: What sets the density, temperature, and magnetic structure of the diffuse ism, enabling the formation of molecular clouds?
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F-Q1b: How do molecular clouds form from, and interact with, their environment?
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F-Q1c: How does injection of energy, momentum, and metals from stars (“stellar feedback”) drive the circulation of matter between phases of the ism and cgm?
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F-Q2: What regulates the structure and motions within molecular clouds?F-Q2a: What processes are responsible for the observed velocity fields in molecular clouds?
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F-Q2b: What is the origin and prevalence of high-density structures in molecular clouds and what role do they play in star formation?
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F-Q2c: What generates the observed chemical complexity of molecular gas?
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F-Q3: How does gas flow from parsec scales down to protostars and their disks?F-Q3a: How do dense molecular cloud cores collapse to form protostars and their disks?
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F-Q3b: How do protostars accrete from envelopes and disks, and what does this imply for protoplanetary disk transport and structure?
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F-Q3c: Is the stellar initial mass function universal?
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F-Q4: Is planet formation fast or slow?F-Q4a: What are the origins and demographics of disk substructures?
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F-Q4b: What is the range of physical environments available for planet formation?
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F-Q4c: How do turbulence and winds influence the evolution of structure in disks?
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Discovery Area F-DA: Detecting & characterizing forming planetsF-DA1: How do planets and their satellites grow?
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F-DA2: What are the atmospheres of long-period giant planets like at their formation epoch?
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F-DA3: How do the orbital architectures of planetary systems evolve?
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Stars, the Sun, and Stellar PopulationsG-Q1: What are the most extreme stars and stellar populations?No science sub-questions from this panel
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G-Q2: How does multiplicity affect the way a star lives and dies?
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G-Q3: What would stars look like if we could view them like we do the sun?
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G-Q4: How do the sun and other stars create space weather?
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Discovery Area G-DA: "Industrial-scale" spectroscopy
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