Heavy Ion Physics with the CMS experiment at the LHC

Abstract

The LHC will collide protons at √ s = 14 TeV and lead beams at √ s N N = 5.5 TeV as well as other AA and pA combinations. The physics program of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) includes the study of heavy ion collisions. The collision energy, much higher than at RHIC, will allow the study of the dense partonic system with very hard probes: heavy quarks and quarkonia with an emphasis on b and Υ, W ± and Z bosons, high p T jets and photons. The production of these particles is likely to be modified, relative to pp collisions, by the presence of the hot medium.