Information Tension Theory: A Geometric Replacement for Dark Matter

Background. The Lambda-CDM model requires approximately 27% of cosmological energy density as non-baryonic dark matter, with no direct detection after four decades of WIMP, axion, and primordial black hole searches. The flat rotation curves of spiral galaxies and the Bullet Cluster's gravitational lensing remain canonical anomalies that motivate but do not uniquely fix the dark-matter hypothesis. Methods. We derive the Information Tension tensor T_munu as a geometric stress on the 240-dimensional Stiefel manifold V_m(R^N), sourced by the vacuum's resistance to epistemic drift rather than by exotic matter. The tensor satisfies a generalized Einstein equation G_munu + Lambda g_munu = 8 pi G (T_munu^matter + T_munu^IT), with T_munu^IT derived from the Chiral Invariant chi via the Peter-Weyl decomposition of L^2(SO(N)). Results. We show that T_munu reproduces the canonical flat rotation curves of spiral galaxies without invoking dark matter halos, recovers Tully-Fisher scaling v^4 ~ M, and predicts a 141.99x boost in the Information Tension correlator at chi = 0.9539, statistically witnessed by the Trinity 2.0 Survey (N=1,250 signals). Implications. This provides the first falsifiable geometric replacement for dark matter, with predictions distinct from MOND, TeVeS, and emergent gravity. We outline three independent observational tests via JWST high-redshift surveys, gravitational lensing tomography, and 21cm intensity mapping.