Dark matter (DM) is one of the pillars of the Standard Cosmological Model, but the nature of this elusive component of the matter budget of the Universe remains unknown, despite the compelling evidence at all astrophysical scales. The possible connection with theories beyond the Standard Model of particle physics makes DM one of the most important open problems in modern cosmology and particle physics, as witnessed by the enormous theoretical and experimental effort that is being put towards its identification.

Many different strategies have been devised to achieve this goal. First, the Large Hadron Collider, which is just starting operations, is expected to provide insights of paramount importance into possible extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics. Whether or not a specific candidate is “observed” at the LHC, any evidence for new physics (or lack thereof) will inevitably change our understanding of physics, and in particular our understanding of DM. If DM candidates are actually found, the question will arise of whether they actually are the DM in the Universe.

A convincing identification can probably be obtained only by combining the results of accelerator searches with astrophysical searches, based on the direct or indirect detection of DM particles in the local Universe. Direct DM searches are based on the measurement of the recoil energy of nuclei struck by DM particles in large detectors. This field has evolved dramatically in the past decade, and the different experimental strategies (cryogenic, liquid noble gases, superheated) developed over the years have led to a spectacular improvement of the constraints on DM–nucleon interactions.