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ABSTRACT. The distortions inferred in the gaseous disks of active
galaxies
suggest that a significant, and possibly dominant fraction of the
1-1000 µm radiation observed from AGN must be thermal
emission from
gas and dust heated by the central source. We report calculations of
the growth and sublimation of dust grains in the outer parts of
accretion disks appropriate to AGN. The thermal state of the gas
undergoes a sudden change at the radius where the dust sublimates. The
outer portion of the accretion disk radiates at 0.5-5 µm;
free-free
emission from gas whose dust has sublimated contributes to the flux at
0.5-2 µm. If this thermal emission dominates the flux from
radio-quiet
quasars, it naturally explains the frequency and depth of the
universal minimum in
F
at
1014.5 Hz. Free-free emission from the
photoionized surface layers of the disk at larger radii produces a
radio flux at
1011
Hz comparable to that observed in radio-quiet
quasars. The far-infrared and submillimeter emission from radio-quiet
quasars and Seyfert galaxies is more naturally interpreted as
reradiation by dust, than as nonthermal emission from the inner
accretion disk.
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