Gravitational collapse of perfect fluid

The spherical gravitational collapse of a compact packet consisting of perfect fluid is studied. The spacetime outside the packet is described by the out-going Vaidya radiation fluid. It is found that when the collapse has continuous self-similarity the formation of black holes always starts with zero mass, and when the collapse has no self-similarity, the formation of black holes always starts with a finite non-zero mass. The packet is usually accompanied by a thin matter shell. The effects of the shell on the collapse are also studied. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.