 Abel inversion of stellar acoustic travel times

Assume $a=c/r$ decreases outward, tends to zero at $R$, and define $h(a)=-d\ln r/da$. Differentiation of the Duvall law gives $F^{\prime }(w)={\int }_0^{w}h(b)b/[w^2\sqrt{w^2-b^2}]db$. Interchanging integrals and using ${\int }_b^{a}dw/[w\sqrt{w^2-b^2}\sqrt{a^2-w^2}]=\pi /(2ab)$ proves the displayed Abel transform inversion. For a finite outer reference value $w_s$, both lower limits become $w_s$, after removing the known outer-layer contribution to the travel time. Inversion requires a monotone branch and amplifies errors in differentiated frequency data.