El Gordo supercluster explained by two-state self-interacting dark matter

Astrophysicist R. Valdarnini proposes a dark matter model with ground and excited states in which some collisions are inelastic. Simulations show this two-state self-interacting dark matter fits the merging regions of the El Gordo supercluster, more than 2 quadrillion solar masses at 7 billion light-years, better than non-interacting or purely elastic models.

• El Gordo lies 7 billion light-years away with over 2 quadrillion solar masses
• A two-state SIDM model with elastic and inelastic collisions best fits observations
• The model explains early supercluster formation without overheating dark matter
• The fit depends on the exact mass of El Gordo and the collision speed