Origin of the Sloshing Spiral in the Abell 2107 Galaxy Cluster

Abstract

We present a detailed thermodynamic analysis of a sloshing spiral discovered in the intracluster medium (ICM) of the galaxy cluster Abell 2107, based on deep Chandra X-ray Observatory observations. Spectral analysis reveals that the spiral arm is significantly cooler and exhibits lower entropy and higher metallicity compared to the surrounding ICM, consistent with an origin in the cool, dense cluster core. We detect three cold fronts at the edges of the spiral, roughly aligned along an east-west axis. This alignment is consistent with predictions from numerical simulations of off-axis merger events. Subregion analysis of the spiral shows that the coldest and lowest-entropy gas is concentrated in the central part of the arm, while the side regions show evidence of mixing and interaction with the ambient medium. Among the examined thermodynamic quantities, entropy provides the most robust contrast between the sloshing gas and its surroundings. Notably, no optical or X-ray counterpart to a potential perturber is detected, suggesting that the responsible perturber may currently be below the detection limit or otherwise difficult to identify, while a dark matter-dominated or dark matter-only subhalo remains one possible scenario. Our findings provide new insights into the dynamical history of A2107 and demonstrate the importance of deep X-ray exposures for revealing subtle ICM structures in apparently relaxed clusters.