The SKA View of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect from Massive Cosmic Halos

Abstract

The thermal intracluster medium (ICM) can be observed via its interaction with Cosmic Microwave Background photons, known as the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect. This effect produces an observable signal at radio to sub-mm wavelengths which probes the pressure of the ICM. The SKA will be sensitive to the thermal SZ effect in its highest frequency band, 5b. In this Chapter, we show that the SKA will provide a high-resolution, high-sensitivity view of the thermal SZ effect, allowing detailed observations of pressure substructures in clusters while retaining sensitivity to the large-scale global ICM emission.

Published in Advancing Astrophysics with the SKAII (AASKAII), 2026 (arXiv:2606.20366). Report-no:AASKAII/Perrott01. Advancing Astrophysics with the SKAII (AASKAII) outlines the transformative scientific advances that will be enabled by the SKA telescopes