  The search for a quantum theory of gravity has become one of the most
well-known problems in theoretical physics. Problems quantizing general
relativity because it is not renormalizable have led to a search for a new
theory of gravity that, while still agreeing with measured observations, is
renormalizable. In this paper, a spin-1 Yang-Mills force theory with a SO(4,1)
or {\em de Sitter} group symmetry is developed. By deriving the standard
geodesic equation and the first post-Newtonian approximation equations, it is
shown that this theory, coupled to Dirac fields, predicts all N-body and light
observations of gravitational phenomena to within experimental accuracy.
Furthermore, because of the separation of gauge covariance from coordinate
diffeomorphism, the theory satisfies the strong equivalence principle while
maintaining a Minkowski coordinate metric. Cosmology is also briefly addressed:
Vacuum energy is the most common explanation for the accelerating expansion of
the universe but suffers from the drawback that any reasonable prediction of it
is 120 orders of magnitude too large. The de Sitter solution to the Einstein
Field Equations is an alternative to vacuum energy as an explanation for the
accelerating expansion of the universe but only if the universe is
approximately a vacuum. The proposed gauge theory, however, avoids both these
problems and, cosmologically, the accelerating expansion of the universe is
shown as a consequence of the de Sitter group Lie algebra. In addition, with
quantized mass, because it is a generic massless, semi-simple Yang-Mills
theory, it is mathematically proved to be a perturbatively renormalizable
quantum theory of gravity.
