“There are no black holes in the sense of regimes from which light can’t escape to infinity.”
- January 8, 1942 – March 14, 2018
- British
- Theoretical physicist, science writer
- Announced the black hole singularity theorem and Hawking radiation, and contributed to the popularization of science with his book “Talking about the Universe”
Quote
“There are no black holes in the sense of regimes from which light can’t escape to infinity.”
Explanation
In this quote, Stephen Hawking challenges the traditional understanding of black holes as regions in space where not even light can escape. The conventional view, based on Einstein’s general theory of relativity, held that a black hole is an object with an event horizon, beyond which nothing—not even light—can escape due to the intense gravitational pull. This is a fundamental characteristic of black holes, often referred to as the “point of no return.” However, Hawking’s statement reflects his contribution to a more nuanced view of black holes, particularly his famous Hawking radiation theory.
Hawking’s breakthrough work in the 1970s revealed that black holes are not entirely “black.” Instead of being purely inescapable regions, black holes can emit radiation due to quantum effects near the event horizon. This radiation, now known as Hawking radiation, arises from virtual particle pairs that spontaneously form near the event horizon. One particle can fall into the black hole, while the other escapes, resulting in the black hole slowly losing mass and energy over time. This finding suggests that black holes can radiate energy, potentially allowing them to lose mass and eventually evaporate completely—a process that challenges the classical view of a black hole as an eternal, immutable object.
Hawking’s revision of the black hole concept has significant implications not only for theoretical physics but also for our understanding of the information paradox. His work showed that black holes might not be completely “black” after all, and that information that falls into a black hole could eventually be released in some form, thus resolving a long-standing puzzle in physics. While the statement may sound counterintuitive, it reflects the evolution of theoretical physics, as new discoveries like Hawking radiation continue to reshape our understanding of the most extreme objects in the universe.
