  We consider here the gravitational collapse of a spherically symmetric
inhomogeneous dust cloud described by the Tolman-Bondi models. By studying a
general class of these models, we find that the end state of the collapse is
either a black hole or a naked singularity, depending on the parameters of the
initial density distribution, which are $\rho_{c}$, the initial central density
of the massive body, and $R_0$, the initial boundary. The collapse ends in a
black hole if the dimensionless quantity $\beta$ constructed out of this
initial data is greater than 0.0113, and it ends in a naked singularity if
$\beta$ is less than this number. A simple interpretation of this result can be
given in terms of the strength of the gravitational potential at the starting
epoch of the collapse.

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology;Astrophysics;High Energy Physics - Theory