Modeling the Vertical Structure of Nuclear Starburst Discs: A Possible
  Source of AGN Obscuration at $z\sim 1$
  Nuclear starburst discs (NSDs) are star-forming discs that may be residing in
the nuclear regions of active galaxies at intermediate redshifts. One
dimensional (1D) analytical models developed by Thompson et al. (2005) show
that these discs can possess an inflationary atmosphere when dust is sublimated
on parsec scales. This make NSDs a viable source for AGN obscuration. We model
the two dimensional (2D) structure of NSDs using an iterative method in order
to compute the explicit vertical solutions for a given annulus. These solutions
satisfy energy and hydrostatic balance, as well as the radiative transfer
equation. In comparison to the 1D model, the 2D calculation predicts a less
extensive expansion of the atmosphere by orders of magnitude at the
parsec/sub-parsec scale, but the new scale-height $h$ may still exceed the
radial distance $R$ for various physical conditions. A total of 192 NSD models
are computed across the input parameter space in order to predict distributions
of a line of sight column density $N_H$. Assuming a random distribution of
input parameters, the statistics yield 56% of Type 1, 23% of Compton-thin Type
2s (CN), and 21% of Compton-thick (CK) AGNs. Depending on a viewing angle
($\theta$) of a particular NSD (fixed physical conditions), any central AGN can
appear to be Type 1, CN, or CK which is consistent with the basic unification
theory of AGNs. Our results show that $\log[N_H(\text{cm}^{-2})]\in$ [23,25.5]
can be oriented at any $\theta$ from 0$^\circ$ to $\approx$80$^\circ$ due to
the degeneracy in the input parameters.
