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There is a very similar question to this one: Is dark matter really matter?. But the particular aspect I'm asking about seems not to be mentioned there. So, here we go:

Does dark matter have to exist as matter? Or, is it possible that space-time is just naturally not flat, but slightly crinkled? Obviously heavy objects can bend space-time, and if, as a layman, I understand it correctly, this is what we perceive as gravity. What now, if space-time is naturally not quite flat, and we perceive this non-flatness as dark matter?

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user1264
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Everything we do understand about space-time, under the framework of General Relativity, suggests that it only bends in response to matter, radiation, and some sort of dark energy. In this understanding, space will "crinkle" if and only if one or more of these components is present. With that in mind, there are myriad observations of space-time bending due to the influence of an unidentified type of matter concentrated in clusters of galaxies. The answer to your question is "yes."

kleingordon
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