We present UV/optical spectropolarimetric modelling of the phenomenologically-based structure for quasars proposed by Elvis ( 15 ) .
In this first paper of a series , we explore the continuum polarisation emerging from radiatively accelerated and bent winds that were vertically launched from the accretion disc in an active galactic nucleus ( AGN ) .
We simulate the radiative transfer occurring in Thomson scattering and dust extinction media over a range of morphological parameters and optical depths of the wind .
We demonstrate that the wind geometry proposed by Elvis with a phenomenologically-derived bending angle of \theta = 60 ^ { \circ } still underestimates the observed optical polarisation percentage of type-1 and type-2 AGN and does not yet reproduce the expected dichotomy of the polarisation position angle .
To recover the observed polarisation properties , a smaller bending angle and some amount of dust shielding in the equatorial region should be considered .
A two-phase outflow is found to generate both the observed polarisation dichotomy and acceptable levels of polarisation degree if the wind has a bending angle \theta = 45 ^ { \circ } , and the conical shells have a half-opening angle of 3 ^ { \circ } < \delta \theta < 10 ^ { \circ } .
The absorbing dust column at the wind base should be in the range of 1 < \tau _ { dust } \leq 4 ( \tau being integrated over 2000 – 8000 Å ) .
Straightforward observational tests from spectropolarimetry and from determining the number density of different AGN types can be performed to further constrain the wind geometry .