Particle dark matter in the galactic halo: recent results from DAMA/LIBRA

The DAMA/LIBRA experiment has a sensitive mass of about 250 kg highly radiopure NaI(Tl). It is running at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the INFN in Italy and is mainly devoted to the investigation of dark matter (DM) particles in the galactic halo by exploiting the model-independent DM annual modulation signature. The present DAMA/LIBRA and the former DAMA/NaI experiments (the first generation experiment having an exposed mass of about 100 kg) have thus far cumulatively released the results of data collected over 13 annual cycles (total exposure: 1.17 t year). They give model-independent evidence of the presence of DM particles in the galactic halo on the basis of the investigated DM signature at 8.9 sigma C.L. for the cumulative exposure. The main aspects of the obtained results are summarized and some comments are addressed.