Evidence from gravitational lensing for a nonthermal pressure support in the cluster of galaxies Abell 2218

Abstract

The central mass distribution of clusters of galaxies can be inferred from gravitationally lensed arcs with known redshifts. For the Abell cluster 2218, this method yields a core mass which is larger by a factor of $2.5 \pm 0.5$ than the value deduced from X-ray observations, under the assumptions that the gas is supported by thermal pressure and that the cluster is spherical. We show that a non-thermal pressure support is the most plausible explanation for this discrepancy. Such a pressure can be naturally provided by strong turbulence and equipartition magnetic fields ($\sim 50\mu$G) that are tangled on small spatial scales (<10 kpc). The turbulent and magnetic pressures do not affect the measured Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect for this cluster. Intracluster magnetic fields with a comparable magnitude ($\sim 10^{1-2} \mu$G) have already been detected by Faraday rotation in other clusters. If generic, a small-scale equipartition magnetic field should affect the structure of cooling flows and must be included in X-ray determinations of cluster masses.