A general framework to test gravity using galaxy clusters I: Modelling the dynamical mass of haloes in $ f(R) $ gravity

Abstract

We propose a new framework for testing gravity using cluster observations, which aims to provide an unbiased constraint on modified gravity models from Sunyaev Zel'dovich (SZ) and X-ray cluster counts and the cluster gas fraction, among other possible observables. Focusing on a popular $ f(R) $ model of gravity, we propose a novel procedure to recalibrate mass scaling relations from $ Λ$CDM to $ f(R) $ gravity for SZ and X-ray cluster observables. We find that the complicated modified gravity effects can be simply modelled as a dependence on a combination of the background scalar field and redshift, $ f_R(z)/(1+z) $, regardless of the $ f(R) $ model parameter. By employing a large suite of N-body simulations, we demonstrate that a theoretically derived tanh fitting formula is in excellent agreement with the dynamical mass enhancement of dark matter haloes for a large range of background field parameters and redshifts. Our framework is sufficiently flexible to allow for tests of other models and inclusion of further observables. The one-parameter description of the dynamical mass enhancement can have important implications on the theoretical modelling of observables and on practical tests of gravity.