A Yang-Mills Type Gauge Theory of Gravity and the Dark Matter Problem

A Yang-Mills type gauge theory of gravity is shown to have a structure richer than that of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. By elevating the full connections to independent dynamical gauge fields, the theory admits non-trivial vacuum configurations driven by gauge field self-interactions. We demonstrate that this non-linear geometric structure naturally yields an effective spacetime that explains the form of the galactic rotation curves and the anomalous amount of intergalactic gravitational lensing, completely circumventing the need for exotic dark matter particles.