Neutralino dark matter searches

Figure 16.17. Complementarity of direct and indirect neutralino dark matter searches. The figure shows that several supersymmetric models that are within the (expected) reach of a big neutrino telescope of 10 km2 yr exposure are beyond the reach of current and future direct detection experiments. The vertical axis is the product of the neutralino-proton spin-independent scattering cross section

To illustrate how we can find out if dark matter is made of elementary particles, we have used neutralino dark matter as our guinea pig to survey several methods to search for non-baryonic dark matter. These methods range from a direct detection of dark matter particles in the laboratory to indirect observation of their annihilation products produced in the core of the Sun or of the Earth and in galactic halos, including our own. Direct searches may have found a signal from WIMPs (the annual modulation), but this claim is highly controversial... 

These same physicist astronomers, today called astroparticle physicists, are currently setting up and line-tuning traps for neutralinos, hypothesised particles of dark matter. These are just as subtle as neutrinos, but much rarer and much more massive. For the moment, the search has been fruitless, but patience is a virtue in the hunt for the invisible. 

Cosmological constraints on supersymmetric models are very powerful, and may even serve as a guidance in searching for supersymmetry. This partially justifies the extensive literature on the subject. The neutralino as dark matter is certainly fashionable. ... 

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