Compton y parameter ($y=\frac{{\sigma }_T}{m_e{c}^2}\int n_e{k}_B{T}_{e}d\ell$)

The Compton y parameter is the Thomson scattering optical depth weighted by the dimensionless electron temperature. It measures the integrated electron pressure along a line of sight. When hot, nonrelativistic electrons scatter much colder photons, the first-order radiation energy gain is $4y$ times the incident energy. The spectrum is redistributed while the total photon number density is conserved locally by scattering.

In a uniform spherical plasma of radius $R$, electron number density $n_e$ and temperature $T$, the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect gives $y(0)=2{\sigma }_{T}R{n}_e{k}_{B}T/(m_e{c}^2)$ along the central ray. A chord at impact parameter $b$ is shorter by $\sqrt{1-b^2/R^2}$. Averaging $y(b)$ over the projected disk with area element $2\pi bdb$ gives $\bar{y}=2y(0)/3$. Using an averaged measurement as though it were a central ray therefore biases any joint X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect inference.

For a source at angular diameter distance $D_A$,The quantity $Y{D}_A^2$ measures volume-integrated electron pressure, hence thermal energy up to a known ideal-gas factor. The redshift independence of the thermal SZ distortion's surface brightness does not make $Y$ distance independent. Angular integration region, beam convolution, temperature structure and cluster geometry matter when comparing measurements and mass proxies.