On the Mass Profile of Galaxy Cluster CL 0024+1654 Inferred from Strong Lensing

Observations of a flat density profile in the cores of dark-matter-dominated halos on the two extremes of mass for virialized objects in the universe, dwarf galaxies and galaxy clusters, present a serious challenge to the current standard theory of structure formation involving Cold Dark Matter (CDM). By contrast, N-body simulations of halo formation in the latter indicate density profiles which are singular and steeply rising towards the center. A flat-density core on the cluster scale is indicated by gravitational lensing observations, most significantly by the strong-lensing measurements of CL 0024+1654 by the Hubble Space Telescope. A recent re-analysis of this cluster has suggested that a uniform-density core is not demanded by the data, thereby eliminating a significant piece of the conflict between the observations and the CDM theoretical predictions. We show here, however, that the singular mass profile which that analysis reports as consistent with the lensing measurements of CL 0024+1654 implies a velocity dispersion which is much higher than the measured value for this cluster. Subject headings: cosmology: gravitational lensing – cosmology: theory – dark matter – galaxies: clusters: individual (CL 0024+1654) – galaxies: halos