Hawking radiation

noun

1. astronomy the emission of particles by a black hole. Pairs of virtual particles in the intense gravitational field around a black hole may live long enough for one to move outward when the other is pulled into the black hole, making it appear that the black hole is emitting radiation

Hawking radiation

1. A form of radiation believed to emanate from black holes, emerging from the region just beyond the black hole's event horizon (from which no radiation can emerge). Pairs of virtual particles and antiparticles, created naturally in the vacuum fluctuation near the black hole, are split apart, one particle falling into the black hole and the other radiating away. The energy lost to such radiated particles is believed to come from the mass of the black hole.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hawking radiation¹

C20: discovered by Stephen Hawking

Example Sentences

Hawking radiation for realistic black holes is a minuscule effect, and the bigger the black hole, the less radiation there is.

From The Daily Beast

The new paper models the Hawking radiation for a collapsing star before it makes a black hole.

From The Daily Beast

The temperature of Cygnus X-1 from Hawking radiation is roughly a billionth of a degree above absolute zero.

From The Daily Beast

Hawking showed how that process works, which is why we call it Hawking radiation.

From The Daily Beast