Warm gas and ionizing photons in the local group

Several lines of argument suggest that a large fraction of the baryons in the universe may be in the form of warm (T similar to 10(5)-10(7) K) gas. In particular, loose groups of galaxies may contain substantial reservoirs of such gas. Observations of the cosmic microwave background by COBE place only weak constraints on such an intragroup medium within the Local Group. The idea of a Local Group corona dates back at least 40 years (Kahn & Woltjer). Here we show that gas at T similar to (2-3) x 10(6) K (the approximate virial temperature of the Local Group)-extremely difficult to observe directly-can in principle radiate a large enough flux of ionizing photons to produce detectable H alpha emission from embedded neutral clouds. However, additional constraints on the corona-the most stringent being pulsar dispersion measures toward the Magellanic Clouds, and the timing mass-rule out an intragroup medium whose ionizing flux dominates over the cosmic background or the major Local Group galaxies. A cosmologically significant coronal gas mass could remain invisible to H alpha observations. More massive galaxy groups could contain extensive coronae which are important for the baryon mass and produce a strong, local ionizing flux.