A model for the X-ray absorption in Compton-thin AGN
Lamastra A., Perola G. C., Matt G.
The fraction of Compton-thin AGN appears observationally to be anticorrelated to their X-ray luminosity.
We present a model in which the Compton-thin absorption is due to the molecular gas in the host galaxy disk.
The gravitational effects of the black hole on the disk shape then leads naturally to the observed anticorrelation,
provided that there is a sufficiently large number of molecular clouds within the sphere of influence of the black hole.