On the interpretation of the multicolour disc model for black hole candidates

We present a critical analysis of the usual interpretation of the multicolo ur disc model parameters for black hole candidates in terms of the inner ra dius and temperature of the accretion disc. Using a self-consistent model f or the radiative transfer and the vertical temperature structure in a Shaku ra-Sunyaev disc, we simulate the observed disc spectra, taking into account Doppler blurring and gravitational redshift, and fit them with multicolour models. We show not only that such a model systematically underestimates t he value of the inner-disc radius, but that when the accretion rate and/or the energy dissipated in the corona are allowed to change, the inner edge o f the disc, as inferred from the multicolour model, appears to move even wh en it is in fact fixed at the innermost stable orbit.