Detection of cosmic dark matter

This is a mid-1988 status report on attempts to detect particle dark matter. We have some prejudice in limiting ourselves to dark matter candidates that we feel are especially motivated: weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), axions, and light neutrinos. Much of our review centers on the possibility of detecting WIMPs. This is partly because there exist several methods by which WIMPs may be detected in the next decade, whereas for axions the prospects are more uncertain and for light neutrinos essentially nonexistent. In addition, we feel that WIMPs provide a natural way for a critical density of dark matter to occur within the context of plausible particle theories