# Dark matter: degrees of freedom

I'm afraid this question could sound a little too vague. I don't even know if dark matter (DM) can be genuinely described by quantum field theory, or if quantum field theory should be somehow "modified" in order to include dark matter.

Assuming that ordinary QFT describes DM, what can be said (or what is known) about the number of degrees of freedom dark matter should have?

• personally, I'm fond of conformal gravity, which gets rid of the need for DM by replacing the Einstein field equations – Christoph Oct 8 '12 at 19:28
• doesn't that reference only account for the rotation curves of (certain) galaxies? shouldn't anything else be overcome? – c.p. Oct 8 '12 at 20:41

• @JorgeCampos The combination of the many neutrino oscillation experiments puts some limits on the combination of $\theta_{nm}$'s and $\Delta m^2_{nm}$'s that are consistent with the data. It turns out that there are few viable combination where there is only one sterile flavor, and rather more if there are more than one. There have been a number of preprints on the matter in recent years. I'll see if I can find you a reference. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Oct 15 '12 at 23:24