We present new weak lensing observations of 1E0657−558 (z = 0.296), a unique cluster merger, that enable a direct detection of dark matter, independent of assumptions regarding the nature of the gravitational force law. Due to the collision of two clusters, the dissipationless stellar component and the fluid-like X-ray emitting plasma are spatially segregated. By using both wide-field ground based images and HST/ACS images of the cluster cores, we create gravitational lensing maps which show that the gravitational potential does not trace the plasma distribution, the dominant baryonic mass component, but rather approximately traces the distribution of galaxies. An 8σ significance spatial offset of the center of the total mass from the center of the baryonic mass peaks cannot be explained with an alteration of the gravitational force law, and thus proves that the majority of the matter in the system is unseen.

We compare new maps of the hot gas, dark matter, and galaxies for 1E 0657À56, a cluster with a rare highvelocity merger occurring nearly in the plane of the sky. The X-ray observations reveal a bullet-like gas subcluster just exiting the collision site. A prominent bow shock gives an estimate of the subcluster velocity, 4500 km s À1 , which lies mostly in the plane of the sky. The optical image shows that the gas lags behind the subcluster galaxies. The weak-lensing mass map reveals a dark matter clump lying ahead of the collisional gas bullet but coincident with the effectively collisionless galaxies. From these observations, one can directly estimate the cross section of the dark matter self-interaction. That the dark matter is not fluid-like is seen directly in the X-ray-lensing mass overlay; more quantitative limits can be derived from three simple independent arguments. The most sensitive constraint, =m < 1 cm 2 g À1 , comes from the consistency of the subcluster mass-to-light ratio with the main cluster (and universal) value, which rules out a significant mass loss due to dark matter particle collisions. This limit excludes most of the 0.5-5 cm 2 g À1 interval proposed to explain the flat mass profiles in galaxies. Our result is only an orderof-magnitude estimate that involves a number of simplifying, but always conservative, assumptions; stronger constraints may be derived using hydrodynamic simulations of this cluster.

We compare recent results from X-ray, strong lensing, weak lensing, and optical observations with numerical simulations of the merging galaxy cluster 1E 0657-56. X-ray observations reveal a bullet-like subcluster with a prominent bow shock, which gives an estimate for the merger velocity of 4700 km s −1 , while lensing results show that the positions of the total mass peaks are consistent with the centroids of the collisionless galaxies (and inconsistent with the X-ray brightness peaks). Previous studies, based on older observational datasets, have placed upper limits on the self-interaction cross-section of dark matter per unit mass, σ/m, using simplified analytic techniques. In this work, we take advantage of new, higher-quality observational datasets by running full N-body simulations of 1E 0657-56 that include the effects of self-interacting dark matter, and comparing the results with observations. Furthermore, the recent data allow for a new independent method of constraining σ/m, based on the non-observation of an offset between the bullet subcluster mass peak and galaxy centroid. This new method places an upper limit (68% confidence) of σ/m < 1.25 cm 2 g −1 .If we make the assumption that the subcluster and the main cluster had equal mass-to-light ratios prior to the merger, we derive our most stringent constraint of σ/m < 0.7 cm 2 g −1 , which comes from the consistency of the subcluster's observed mass-to-light ratio with the main cluster's, and with the universal cluster