Hawking: particle creation by black holes

What changed

Showed that quantum effects cause black holes to emit an approximately thermal particle spectrum with a temperature set by surface gravity, linking quantum field theory, gravitation and thermodynamics.

Scientific scope

The record is the exact 1975 Communications in Mathematical Physics paper. Hawking’s 1974 announcement, Bekenstein entropy, earlier black-hole mechanics, later derivations and information-loss debates remain separate.

Evidence

The linked sources identify this contribution and its scope. WRS has not independently reconstructed the scientific claims. The record is the exact 1975 Communications in Mathematical Physics paper. Hawking’s 1974 announcement, Bekenstein entropy, earlier black-hole mechanics, later derivations and information-loss debates remain separate.

Contributors

• S. W. Hawking · SCIENCE: Named source author of the scoped work; individual effort shares are not measured.

• Project Euclid copy of Hawking particle creation paper
• Crossref record for Hawking particle creation paper

Provisional WRS assessment, edition 2026-10-16.1. Independent expert calibration is pending. This grade does not certify correctness or assign ownership.

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