Unraveling the DAMA/LIBRA Puzzle: last results from the ANAIS-112 Experiment

For over two decades, the DAMA/LIBRA experiment has reported an annual modulation in the low-energy region, consistent with the expectation from dark matter (DM) in the galactic halo due to Earth's motion around the Sun. 
For most WIMP candidates, this result is excluded by the null results of other experiments, making it one of the most puzzling anomalies in the field. However, such comparisons are model-dependent, as these experiments use different target materials with respect to DAMA/LIBRA (NaI(Tl) scintillators). In recent years, the ANAIS-112 and COSINE-100 experiments, which also employ NaI(Tl) detectors, have obtained results that are incompatible with those of DAMA/LIBRA at a high confidence level, leaving little room for a dark matter interpretation of the observed modulation. In this seminar, I will review the current status of dark matter direct detection. I will then focus on the DAMA/LIBRA anomaly, presenting the latest ANAIS-112 results and a combined analysis with COSINE data. Finally, I will discuss the systematic uncertainties that may still impact the direct comparison.