We perform a generalized analysis of data from WIMP search experiments for point-like WIMPs of arbitrary spin and general Lorenz-invariant WIMP-nucleus interaction .
We show that in the non-relativistic limit only spin-independent ( SI ) and spin-dependent ( SD ) WIMP-nucleon interactions survive , which can be parameterized by only five independent parameters .
We explore this five-dimensional parameter space to determine whether the annual modulation observed in the DAMA experiment can be consistent with all other experiments .
The pure SI interaction is ruled out except for very small region of parameter space with the WIMP mass close to 50 GeV and the ratio of the WIMP-neutron to WIMP-proton SI couplings -0.77 \leq f _ { n } / f _ { p } \leq - 0.75 .
For the predominantly SD interaction , we find an upper limit to the WIMP mass of about 18 GeV , which can only be weakened if the constraint stemming from null searches for energetic neutrinos from WIMP annihilation the Sun is evaded .
None of the regions of the parameter space that can reconcile all WIMP search results can be easily accommodated in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model .