Search for weakly interacting massive dark matter particles: state of the art and prospects

Determining the nature of dark matter (DM) is one of the most important challenges of modern experimental physics. This article overviews the major arguments confirming the existence of DM, gives the latest classifications of DM particles, identifies possible candidates for their role, and discusses the most significant DM particle search experiments conducted and under development. The article mainly aims to give an idea of diverse experimental methods of and approaches to registering DM particles, as well as of the currently available results of the search for them, which open new prospects in DM studies and contribute to solving topical problems in New Physics.