THREE-YEAR<i>SWIFT</i>-BAT SURVEY OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI: RECONCILING THEORY AND OBSERVATIONS?
THREE-YEAR<i>SWIFT</i>-BAT SURVEY OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI: RECONCILING THEORY AND OBSERVATIONS?
It is well accepted that unabsorbed as well as absorbed active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are needed to explain the nature and shape of the Cosmic X-ray background (CXB), even if the fraction of highly absorbed objects (dubbed Compton-thick sources) still substantially escapes detection. We derive and analyze the absorption distribution …