Testing Gravity Using Galaxy Clusters: New Constraints on Beyond Horndeski Theories

TL;DR

This study tests Beyond Horndeski gravity theories using galaxy cluster profiles to constrain deviations from General Relativity, providing the first extragalactic measurements of key parameters and supporting GR's predictions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method combining X-ray and lensing data to constrain Beyond Horndeski parameters using galaxy clusters, including the first observational constraints on  and .

Findings

Constraints on  and  are consistent with GR.

First extragalactic measurement of .

Methodology combines X-ray and lensing profiles for gravity tests.

Abstract

The Beyond Horndeski class of alternative gravity theories allow for Self-accelerating de-Sitter cosmologies with no need for a cosmological constant. This makes them viable alternatives to $\Lambda$CDM and so testing their small-scale predictions against General Relativity is of paramount importance. These theories generically predict deviations in both the Newtonian force law and the gravitational lensing of light inside extended objects. Therefore, by simultaneously fitting the X-ray and lensing profiles of galaxy clusters new constraints can be obtained. In this work, we apply this methodology to the stacked profiles of 58 high-redshift ($ 0.1<z<1.2$) clusters using X-ray surface brightness profiles from the XMM Cluster Survey and weak lensing profiles from CFHTLenS. By performing a multi-parameter Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis, we are able to place new constraints on the parameters governing deviations from Newton's law $\Upsilon_{1}=-0.11^{+0.93}_{-0.67}$ and light bending $\Upsilon_{2}=-0.22^{+1.22}_{-1.19}$. Both constraints are consistent with General Relativity, for which $\Upsilon_{1}=\Upsilon_{2}=0$. We present here the first observational constraints on $\Upsilon_{2}$, as well as the first extragalactic measurement of both parameters.