Abstract
Interferometric maser observations have been used to probe the physical conditions of extragalactic accretion discs at sub-parsec scales. The inferred kinematic of the water maser spots presents small deviations from Keplerian motions, which have been attributed to the warping and twisting of the parsec-scale disc. However, their physical origin is still a matter of debate in the literature. Motivated by this, we analyzed the general relativistic Bardeen-Petterson effect, driven by a Kerr black hole, as the potential physical mechanism responsible for the disc warping and precession in the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxies NGC 1068 and NGC 4258. Assuming a power-law accretion disc, whose parameters were constrained by the observational data, we derived the basic quantities concerning the Bardeen-Petterson effect for both sources. Some consequences from this peculiar relativistic mechanism are also presented in this work.
