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Article Contents

ABSTRACT

1. ASTROPHYSICAL CONTEXT

1.1 The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

1.2 Thermal history of the Universe and the CMBR

1.3 COBE and the CMBR

1.4 Clusters of galaxies and the CMBR

2. RADIATION BASICS

3. INVERSE-COMPTON SCATTERING

3.1 Single photon-electron scattering

3.2 Scattering of photons by an electron population

3.3 Effect on spectrum of radiation

3.4 The Kompaneets approximation

4. THE THERMAL SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT

4.1 The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect from clusters of galaxies

4.2 Superclusters of galaxies

4.3 Local Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects

5. THE NON-THERMAL SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT

6. THE KINEMATIC SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT

7. POLARIZATION AND THE SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT

8. MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

8.1 Single-dish radiometer measurements

8.2 Bolometric methods

8.3 Interferometric methods

9. SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT DATA

9.1 Cluster data

9.2 Non-thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects

10. THE SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECTS ANALYSED IN TERMS OF CLUSTER PROPERTIES

10.1 Cluster gas properties

10.2 Cluster velocities

11. THE SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT INTERPRETED IN COSMOLOGICAL TERMS

11.1 Cosmological parameters

11.2 Contributions to the CMBR spectrum

11.3 Fluctuations in the CMBR

11.4 Quasars and the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects

12. CONTINUING RESEARCH AND THE FUTURE OF THE SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT

REFERENCES