The Compressed Baryonic Matter Experiment at FAIR

Abstract

Abstract The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment will explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter in the region of high net baryon densities. The experiment is being laid out for nuclear collision rates from 0.1 to 10 MHz to access a unique wide spectrum of probes, including rarest particles like hadrons containing charm quarks, or multi-strange hyperons. The physics programme will be performed with ion beams of energies up to 45 GeV/nucleon. Those will be delivered by the SIS-300 synchrotron at the completed FAIR accelerator complex. Parts of the research programme can already be addressed with the SIS-100 synchrotron at the start of FAIR operation in 2018. The initial energy range of up to 11 GeV/nucleon for heavy nuclei, 14 GeV/nucleon for light nuclei, and 29 GeV for protons, allows addressing the equation of state of compressed nuclear matter, the properties of hadrons in a dense medium, the production and propagation of charm near the production threshold, and exploring the third, strange dimension of the nuclide chart. In this article we summarize the CBM physics programme, the preparation of the detector, and give an outline of the recently begun construction of the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research.