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No Way Back: Maximizing Survival Time Below the Schwarzschild Event Horizon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2013

Geraint F. Lewis*
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia
Juliana Kwan
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia
*
BCorresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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It has long been known that once you cross the event horizon of a black hole, your destiny lies at the central singularity, irrespective of what you do. Furthermore, your demise will occur in a finite amount of proper time. In this paper, the use of rockets in extending the amount of time before the collision with the central singularity is examined. In general, the use of such rockets can increase your remaining time, but only up to a maximum value; this is at odds with the ‘more you struggle, the less time you have' statement that is sometimes discussed in relation to black holes. The derived equations are simple to solve numerically and the framework can be employed as a teaching tool for general relativity.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 2007

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