The Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment

Abstract. The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment is a next-generation fixed-target detector which will operate at the future Facility for Antiproton and Ion Re-search (FAIR) in Darmstadt. The goal of this experiment is to explore the QCD phase diagram in the region of high net baryon densities using high-energy nucleus-nucleus col-lisions. Its research program includes the study of the equation-of-state of nuclear matter at high baryon densities, the search for the deconfinement and chiral phase transitions and the search for the QCD critical point. The CBM detector is designed to measure both bulk observables with a large acceptance and rare diagnostic probes such as charm parti-cles, multi-strange hyperons, and low mass vector mesons in their di-leptonic decay. The physics program of CBM will be summarized, followed by an overview of the detector concept, a selection of the expected physics performance, and the status of preparation of the experiment.