For cold dark matter models, images of temperature fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), due to Sunyaev Zel’dovich (SZ) effect have been been simulated taking a cosmolgical distribution of clusters into account. All the models are normalised to the 4-year COBE data. The image statistics are compared with the ATCA limits on arcmin scale anisotropy. The comparison appears to favour low-Ω₀ open universe models.

Surveys of clusters of galaxies provide us with a powerful probe of the density and nature of the dark energy. The red-shift distribution of detected clusters is highly sensitive to the dark energy equation of state parameterw. Upcoming Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (SZ) surveys would provide us large yields of clusters to very high red-shifts. Self-calibration of cluster scaling relations, possible for such a huge sample, would be able to constrain systematic biases on mass estimators. Combining cluster red-shift abundance with limited mass follow-up and cluster mass power spectrum can then give constraints onw, as well as onσ₈ and Ω_M to a few per cents.