The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect revisited

The well known Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect is reexamined using a Doppler shift type mechanism arising from the scattering of photons by electrons in an optically thin gas. The results are in excellent agreement with the observational data as well as with the results obtained using the diffusive pictures. A comparison of the results here obtained with other approaches is thoroughly discussed, as well as some important extensions of this method to other aspects of the SZ effect