Muon Identification at CMS, and Confrontation with Monte Carlo and Test Beam Data

Three systems of muon detectors are currently under construction as an integral part of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. After discussing the layout and operating principles of the detector systems, some results obtained from test beams are compared with simulation. Muon identification in CMS involves three stages: the Level a muon trigger, the higher-level muon trigger, and offline muon reconstruction. How these stages should work in practice is described, illustrated by results from detailed simulation.