What is Hawking radiation?

Hawking radiation is the emission of particles from a black hole due to quantum effects.

Hawking radiation is a theoretical prediction made by physicist Stephen Hawking in 1974. It is based on the idea that black holes are not completely black, but instead emit particles due to quantum effects. According to quantum mechanics, particles can spontaneously appear and disappear in empty space. When this happens near the event horizon of a black hole, one particle can be sucked into the black hole while the other escapes, resulting in a net loss of mass for the black hole. This process is known as Hawking radiation.

The rate of Hawking radiation emission is inversely proportional to the mass of the black hole. This means that smaller black holes emit more radiation than larger ones. However, the amount of radiation emitted by a black hole is extremely small, and it is unlikely to be observed directly. Nevertheless, the idea of Hawking radiation has had a profound impact on our understanding of black holes and the nature of gravity.

Hawking radiation also has implications for the long-term fate of black holes. As a black hole emits radiation, it loses mass and eventually evaporates completely. This process is known as black hole evaporation and is expected to occur on a timescale of trillions of years for a typical black hole. The idea of black hole evaporation has led to the so-called information paradox, which is still a topic of active research in theoretical physics.