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arXiv · 2001.03279

A note on a straight gravity tunnel through a rotating body

Aleksander Simonič
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Abstract

It is well-known that the straight gravity tunnel between any two different positions on a non-rotating Earth, which has uniform density, is traversable, i.e., an object initially at rest will reach its destination through the gravity tunnel in both directions. Moreover, the time taken to fall is always constant. These facts are no longer true if rotation is allowed. The aim of this note is to derive the necessary and sufficient condition for traversability of straight gravity tunnels through a rotating physical body with spherically symmetric gravitational field. Fall-through times are expressed in a closed form for linear and constant gravitational fields. In conclusion, these models are compared to numerically obtained data using the internal structure of the Earth.

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Aleksander Simonič. 2020-01-10. A note on a straight gravity tunnel through a rotating body. https://doi.org/10.1119/10.0001181

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