X-ray Clusters of Galaxies as Cosmological Tools

Abstract

This paper was written as part of a book entitled: "Questions of Modern Cosmology - Galileo's Legacy" which is a celebrative book dedicated to Galileo Galilei. The book is published in 2009, the International Year of Astronomy, since it is intended to be a modern tribute to the astronomer who, 400 years ago, first pointed a telescope towards the night sky. The book is written in the form of interviews between the editors and many physicists, astrophysicists and cosmologists from all over the world. The editors engaged in several discussions on the formation and evolution of the Universe with the aim of summarizing the most important and significative advances made by cosmology over the past century and at the beginning of the new millennium. This paper deals with X-ray clusters of galaxies and how they can be used to constrain fundamental cosmological parameters.