Spectroscopy in the Era of LSST

TL;DR

This paper summarizes a workshop discussing the role and future needs of spectroscopy in the context of LSST, focusing on science applications across multiple astrophysical domains.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of science cases and desired capabilities for spectroscopy to support LSST-era research across various fields.

Findings

Identification of key science drivers for spectroscopy in LSST era

Framework for characterizing spectroscopic needs for different science cases

Synthesis of desired capabilities to guide future instrument development

Abstract

This report summarizes the results of the 'Spectroscopy in the Era of LSST' workshop held April 11-12, 2013 in Tucson, Arizona. At the workshop, there were breakout sessions covering four broad science topics. These were: time domain science, Galactic structure and stellar populations, galaxies and AGN, and dark energy and cosmology. We present the science cases discussed in these breakout sessions and provide a synthesis of highly desired capabilities that meet needs across all four broad topics. We also present a table that will be useful to characterize the needs of specific science cases in a format that provides a general framework for discussion of future spectroscopic capabilities.