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| Paper: |
A Model for the X-ray Absorption in Compton-thin AGN |
| Volume: |
373, The Central Engine of Active Galactic Nuclei |
| Page: |
145 |
| Authors: |
Lamastra, A.; Perola, G.C.; Matt, G. |
| Abstract: |
The fraction of AGN with photoelectric absorption in the X-rays ranging from NH of 1022 up to about 1024 cm−2 (Compton-thin) appears observationally to be anticorrelated with their luminosity LX. The molecular torus invoked in the unified picture of AGN, while it can be regarded as confirmed on several grounds to explain the Compton-thick objects, do not conform to this new constraint, at least in its physical models as developed so far. In the frame of observationally based evidence that in Compton-thin sources the absorbing gas might be located far away from the X-ray source, it is shown that the gravitational effects of the black hole (BH) on the molecular gas in a disk, within 25–450 pc (depending on the BH mass, from 106 to 109 M⊙), leads naturally to the observed anticorrelation, under the assumption of a statistical correlation between the BH mass and LX. |
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