First DAMA/LIBRA results and beyond

The DAMA project is an observatory for rare processes and it is operative deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the I.N.F.N. Its main apparatus is the DAMA/LIBRA set-up, consisting of ≃ 250 kg highly radiopure NaI(Tl) detectors. Its first results - obtained by exploiting over four annual cycles the model independent annual modulation signature for Dark Matter (DM) particles - confirm by those of the former DAMA/NaI, supporting the evidence for Dark Matter presence in the galactic halo at 8.2 σ C.L.. The DAMA/NaI and DAMA/LIBRA data, in fact, satisfy all the many peculiarities of the DM annual modulation signature. Neither systematic effects nor side reactions able to account for the observed modulation amplitude and to contemporaneously satisfy all the several requirements of the DM signature are available. Future perspectives are also addressed. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009