A massive blow for $\Lambda$CDM $-$ the high redshift, mass, and collision velocity of the interacting galaxy cluster El Gordo contradicts concordance cosmology

TL;DR

This paper shows that the observed properties of the galaxy cluster El Gordo, including its high mass, redshift, and collision velocity, are highly inconsistent with predictions from the standard Lambda Cold Dark Matter ($$CDM) cosmology, challenging its validity.

Contribution

The study provides a quantitative analysis demonstrating that El Gordo's properties are incompatible with $$CDM predictions at over 6 sigma significance, using large-scale cosmological simulations.

Findings

El Gordo's properties are inconsistent with $$CDM at 6.16 sigma.

The Bullet Cluster is in 2.78 sigma tension with $$CDM.

Combined tension from both clusters exceeds 6 sigma.

Abstract

El Gordo (ACT-CL J0102-4915) is an extremely massive galaxy cluster ($M_{200} \approx 3 \times 10^{15}$ $M_{\odot}$) at redshift $z = 0.87 $ composed of two subclusters with mass ratio 3.6 merging at speed $V_{infall} \approx 2500$ km/s. Such a fast collision between individually rare massive clusters is unexpected in Lambda cold dark matter ($\Lambda$CDM) cosmology at such high $z$. However, this is required for non-cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of the merger to match its observed properties (Zhang et al. 2015). Here, we determine the probability of finding a similar object in a $\Lambda$CDM context using the Jubilee simulation box with side length $6 \, h^{-1}$ Gpc. We search for galaxy cluster pairs that have turned around from the cosmic expansion with properties similar to El Gordo in terms of total mass, mass ratio, redshift, and collision velocity relative to virial velocity. We fit the distribution of pair total mass quite accurately, with the fits used in two methods to infer the probability of observing El Gordo in the surveyed region. The more conservative (and detailed) method involves considering the expected distribution of pairwise mass and redshift for analogue pairs with similar dimensionless parameters to El Gordo in the past lightcone of a $z = 0$ observer. Detecting one pair with its mass and redshift rules out $\Lambda$CDM cosmology at $6.16\sigma$. We also use the results of Kraljic & Sarkar (2015) to show that the Bullet Cluster is in $2.78\sigma$ tension once the sky coverage of its discovery survey is accounted for. Using a $\chi^2$ approach, the combined tension can be estimated as $6.43 \sigma$. Both collisions arise naturally in a Milgromian dynamics (MOND) cosmology with light sterile neutrinos.