Physics with CMS - Potential and challenges

The CMS muon system is an important subdetector to trigger on and select rare interesting physics events from the large background at the LHC, and to allow kinematic muon reconstruction based on precise momentum measurements. Three detection technologies, all within the magnetized return yoke, identify muons and determine their charge and momentum. The overview outlines the requirements for the muon system, shows their implementation and summarizes the detector performance.