Beyond WIMP: From Theory to Detection of Sub-GeV Dark Matter

<!--HTML-->The existence of dark matter has been well established with overwhelming evidence, but its particle identity is still unknown. For more than three decades, significant theoretical and experimental efforts have been directed towards the search for a Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP), often overlooking other possibilities. The lack of an unambiguous positive WIMP signal, at both indirect- and direct-detection experiments and at the LHC, stresses the need to expand dark matter research into additional theoretical scenarios and, more importantly, to develop new experimental capabilities that go beyond the limitations of WIMP detection. In this talk I will discuss new theoretical ideas and experimental avenues for searching for light, sub-GeV dark matter. Some emphasis will be given to direct detection experiments, where several new strategies to directly detect dark matter particles with MeV to GeV mass, far below standard direct detection capabilities, are developed.