Discussing direct search of dark matter particles in the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model with light neutralinos

We examine the status of light neutralinos in an effective minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model at the electroweak scale which was considered in the past and discussed in terms of the available data of direct searches for dark matter particles. Our reanalysis is prompted by new measure- ments at the Tevatron and B factories which might potentially provide significant constraints on the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Here we examine in detail all these new data and show that the present published results from the Tevatron and B factories have only a mild effect on the original light-neutralino population. This population, which fits quite well the DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation data, would also agree with the preliminary results of CDMS, CoGeNT, and CRESST, should these data, which are at present only hints of excesses of events over the expected backgrounds, be interpreted as authentic signals of dark matter. For the neutralino mass we find a lower bound of 7–8 GeV. Our results differ from some recent conclusions by other authors because of a few crucial points which we try to single out and elucidate.