Spectropolarimetric Evidence for Radiatively Inefficient Accretion in an
  Optically Dull Active Galaxy
  We present Subaru/FOCAS spectropolarimetry of two active galaxies in the
Cosmic Evolution Survey. These objects were selected to be optically dull, with
the bright X-ray emission of an AGN but missing optical emission lines in our
previous spectroscopy. Our new observations show that one target has very weak
emission lines consistent with an optically dull AGN, while the other object
has strong emission lines typical of a host-diluted Type 2 Seyfert galaxy. In
neither source do we observe polarized emission lines, with 3-sigma upper
limits of P_BLR < 2%. This means that the missing broad emission lines (and
weaker narrow emission lines) are not due to simple anisotropic obscuration,
e.g., by the canonical AGN torus. The weak-lined optically dull AGN exhibits a
blue polarized continuum with P = 0.78 +/- 0.07% at 4400 A < lambda_rest < 7200
A (P = 1.37 +/- 0.16% at 4400 A < lambda_rest < 5050 A). The wavelength
dependence of this polarized flux is similar to that of an unobscured AGN
continuum and represents the intrinsic AGN emission, either as synchrotron
emission or the outer part of an accretion disk reflected by a clumpy dust
scatterer. Because this intrinsic AGN emission lacks emission lines, this
source is likely to have a radiatively inefficient accretion flow.
