The disk–torus system in active galactic nuclei: possible evidence of highly spinning black holes

Abstract

We study the ratio R between the luminosity of the torus and that of the accretion disk, inferred from the relativistic model KERRBB for a sample of approximately 2000 luminosity-selected radio-quiet Type I active galactic nuclei from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey catalog. We find a mean ratio R ≈ 0.8 and a considerable number of sources with R ≳ 1. Our statistical analysis regarding the distribution of the observed ratios suggests that the largest values might be linked to strong relativistic effects due to a large black hole spin (a > 0.8), despite the radio-quiet nature of the sources. The mean value of R sets a constraint on the average torus aperture angle (in the range 30° < θT < 70°) and, for about one-third of the sources, the spin must be a > 0.7. Moreover, our results suggest that the strength of the disk radiation (i.e., the Eddington ratio) could shape the torus geometry and the relative luminosity ratio R. Given the importance of the involved uncertainties on this statistical investigation, an extensive analysis and discussion have been made to assess the robustness of our results.