Linear kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect and void models for
  acceleration
  There has been considerable recent interest in cosmological models in which
the current apparent acceleration is due to a very large local underdensity, or
void, instead of some form of dark energy. Here we examine a new proposal to
constrain such models using the linear kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect
due to structure within the void. The simplified "Hubble bubble" models
previously studied appeared to predict far more kSZ power than is actually
observed, independently of the details of the initial conditions and evolution
of perturbations in such models. We show that the constraining power of the kSZ
effect is considerably weakened (though still impressive) under a fully
relativistic treatment of the problem, and point out several theoretical
ambiguities and observational shortcomings which further qualify the results.
Nevertheless, we conclude that a very large class of void models is ruled out
by the combination of kSZ and other methods.
