The CBM experiment at GSI/FAIR

The heavy-ion experiment CBM, considered as one of the core projects of the future accelerator facility FAIR in Darmstadt, will investigate nucleus-nucleus collisions from 10 to 45 AGeV, thus exploring the QCD phase diagram in the region of highest baryon densities. High machine availability and interaction rates will give access to rare observables like charm near threshold. We discuss the physics motivation, the proposed detector system and results of feasibility studies.