The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) will be the world’s largest and most sensitive observatory for high-energy gamma rays, capable of detecting extremely faint sources with unprecedented precision. This will be achieved through several key advancements: synchronous observation of air showers with multiple telescopes, advanced optical systems, cutting-edge photo-detectors, ultra-fast electronics, and sophisticated data analysis algorithms.

CTAO will be about ten times more sensitive than current instruments and will cover a much broader energy range, from 20 GeV to over 300 TeV. It will enable high-precision studies of gamma-ray sources like supernova remnants by improving the accuracy of energy and direction measurements.

Monte Carlo (MC) simulations form the foundation for all CTAO data analysis. These simulations model air showers, atmospheric conditions, and the CTAO detectors for any observational moment. The simulation pipeline feeds directly into performance calculations and the generation of instrument response functions.

The DESY group plays a central role in developing the CTAO simulation pipeline and characterizing its performance. DESY’s extensive computing infrastructure, with thousands of cores and over a petabyte of storage, supports these efforts.

CTA's expected baseline performance