SZ effect from radio-galaxy lobes: astrophysical and cosmological relevance

We derive the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect arising in radio-galaxy lobes that are filled with high-energy, non-thermal electrons. We provide here quantitative estimates for SZ effect expected from the radio-galaxy lobes by normalizing it to the inverse Compton light, observed in the X-ray band, as produced by the extrapolation to low energies of the radio emitting electron spectrum in these radio lobes. We compute the spectral and spatial characteristics of the SZ effect associated to the radio lobes of two distant radio galaxies (3C 294 and 3C 432) recently observed by Chandra, and we further discuss its detectability with the next generation microwave and submm experiments with arcsec and similar to mu K sensitivity. We finally highlight the potential use of the SZ effect from radio-galaxy lobes in the astrophysical and cosmological context.