The late Stephen Hawking, one of the most well-known and brilliant physicists of the last century, has given us one last knowledgeable insight from beyond the grave.
In the days leading up to his death, Professor Hawking was working on a research paper titled “Black Hole Entropy and Soft Hair,” a dissection of the state of particles that disappear into a black hole and how that phenomenon relates to quantum theory. Though the paper was completed, Professor Hawking was not able to publish it before his death. Thanks to some of his former associates from Cambridge and Harvard, however, it is now publicly available.
In the paper, Hawking details his theories on the state of particles that enter a black hole, and what becomes of the information stored in those particles should the black hole disappear. Quantum theory states that nothing ever truly disappears, so if the particle disappears, it runs counter. Hawking also outlined his thoughts on “soft hairs,” a nickname for the particle remnants that exist near a black hole’s event horizon.
The paper includes a heartfelt tribute to Hawking by his collaborators at the end, detailing the worth of both his research and company until the end. The paper is available in PDF format on the Cornell University Library’s website.
