The El Gordo galaxy cluster challenges ΛCDM for any plausible collision velocity

Abstract

El Gordo (ACT-CL J0102-4915) is an extraordinarily large and bright galaxy cluster collision. In a previous study, we found that El Gordo is in $6.2\sigma$ tension with the $\Lambda$CDM standard model when assuming the nominal mass and infall velocity values from the hydrodynamical simulations of Zhang et al. ($M_{200}=3.2\times 10^{15}{M}_{\odot }$ and $V_{\text{infall}}=2500{\text{km s}}^{-1}$, respectively). The recent weak lensing study of Kim et al. showed that the mass of El Gordo is actually $2.13_{-0.23}^{+0.25}\times 10^{15}{M}_{\odot }$. Here we explore the level of tension between El Gordo and $\Lambda$CDM for the new mass estimate, assuming several $V_{\text{infall}}$ values. We find that in order to reduce the tension below the $5\sigma$ level, the El Gordo subclusters should have $V_{\text{infall}}<2300{\text{km s}}^{-1}$ ($V_{\text{infall}}<1800{\text{km s}}^{-1}$ when considering the combined tension with the Bullet Cluster). To the best of our knowledge, the El Gordo hydrodynamical simulations conducted so far require $V_{\text{infall}}\ge 2500{\text{km s}}^{-1}$ to simultaneously reproduce its morphology and its high X-ray luminosity and temperature. We therefore conclude that El Gordo still poses a significant challenge to $\Lambda$CDM cosmology. Whether the properties of El Gordo can be reconciled with a lower $V_{\text{infall}}$ should be tested with new hydrodynamical simulations that explore different configurations of the interaction.

8 pages, 1 figure. Matched to version published in The Astrophysical Journal as closely as possible

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