Work

Fully relativistic derivation of the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: We present the first fully and inherently relativistic derivation of the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. This work uses the formalism historically applied to compute radiation spectra emerging from inverse Thomson/Compton sources of x-ray radiation. Comparing our results to the traditional approach based on relativistically-corrected classical Kompaneets equation, we find small, but systematic differences. Most notable are the modest ( ⩽ 10 % ) differences in the crossover frequency where the spectral distortion due to the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect vanishes, and the quadratic scaling of the energy shift with the electron cloud temperatures.

Source: Physics Letters B

DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2024.139119