Review on dark matter searches

Abstract

Dark matter particles populating our galactic halo could be directly detected by measuring their scattering off target nuclei or electrons in a suitable detector. As this interaction is expected to occur with very low probability and would generate very small energy deposits, the detection is challenging; the possible identification of distinctive signatures (like an annual modulation in the interaction rates or directionality) to assign a dark matter origin to a possible observation is being considered. Here, the physics case of different dark matter direct detection experiments will be presented and the different and complementary techniques which are being applied or considered will be discussed, summarizing their features and latest results obtained. Special focus will be made on TPC-related projects; experiments using noble liquids have presently a leading role to constrain interaction cross sections of a wide range of dark matter candidates and gaseous detectors are very promising to explore specifically low mass dark matter as well as to measure directionality.