We present new spectroscopic observations of the most distant X-ray selected
galaxy cluster currently known, XMMXCS J2215.9-1738 at z=1.457, obtained with
the DEIMOS instrument at the W. M. Keck Observatory, and the FORS2 instrument
on the ESO Very Large Telescope. Within the cluster virial radius, as estimated
from the cluster X-ray properties, we increase the number of known
spectroscopic cluster members to 17 objects, and calculate the line of sight
velocity dispersion of the cluster to be 580+/-140 km/s. We find mild evidence
that the velocity distribution of galaxies within the virial radius deviates
from a single Gaussian. We show that the properties of J2215.9-1738 are
inconsistent with self-similar evolution of local X-ray scaling relations,
finding that the cluster is underluminous given its X-ray temperature, and that
the intracluster medium contains ~2-3 times the kinetic energy per unit mass of
the cluster galaxies. These results can perhaps be explained if the cluster is
observed in the aftermath of an off-axis merger. Alternatively, heating of the
intracluster medium through supernovae and/or Active Galactic Nuclei activity,
as is required to explain the observed slope of the local X-ray
luminosity-temperature relation, may be responsible.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
