largemass

Largemass is a term used in astrophysical modeling to describe a mass regime rather than a specific physical object. It denotes objects whose total mass significantly exceeds the scales of planets and typical stars within a given study, such that their gravity dominates local dynamics. Because the threshold is context dependent, there is no universal value for largemass; in star-cluster studies it may refer to objects above tens to hundreds of solar masses, while in galactic-scale analyses it could refer to objects above 10^5 solar masses.

The concept is used to explore how gravity-driven processes scale with mass, including dynamical friction, tidal effects, and collapse criteria. Largemass objects can include massive stars, dense stellar clusters, intermediate-mass black holes, supermassive black holes, and large dark matter halos that exceed specific mass floors in a model. They often exhibit strong gravitational influence on surrounding material, high velocity dispersions, and, if compact, pronounced lensing signatures.

Formation and evolution vary by environment: direct collapse of massive gas clouds, runaway mergers in dense clusters, hierarchical growth through accretion and mergers, or mergers of smaller halos. Observationally, estimating largemass requires dynamical measurements, gravitational lensing, or observing accretion or emission associated with compact objects. Uncertainties arise from projection effects, anisotropy, and model assumptions about mass distribution.

Because largemass is a flexible modeling category rather than a fixed class, studies that use the term should specify the threshold and context. See also: mass, gravitational lensing, black hole, dark matter halo, star cluster.