  We present the analysis of 30 ksec of Chandra observations of the galaxy
cluster Abell 1835. Overall, the X-ray image shows a relaxed morphology,
although we detect substructure in in the inner 30 kpc radius. Spectral
analysis shows a steep drop in the X-ray gas temperature from ~12 keV in the
outer regions of the cluster to ~4 keV in the core. The Chandra data provide
tight constraints on the gravitational potential of the cluster which can be
parameterized by a Navarro, Frenk & White (1997) model. The X-ray data allow us
to measure the X-ray gas mass fraction as a function of radius, leading to a
determination of the cosmic matter density of \Omega_m=0.40+-0.09 h_50^-0.5.
The projected mass within a radius of ~150 kpc implied by the presence of
gravitationally lensed arcs in the cluster is in good agreement with the mass
models preferred by the Chandra data. We find a radiative cooling time of the
X-ray gas in the centre of Abell 1835 of about 3x10^8 yr. Cooling flow model
fits to the Chandra spectrum and a deprojection analysis of the Chandra image
both indicate the presence of a young cooling flow (~6x10^8 yr) with an
integrated mass deposition rate of 230^+80_-50 M_o yr^-1 within a radius of 30
kpc. We discuss the implications of our results in the light of recent RGS
observations of Abell 1835 with XMM-Newton.
