1965

Hawking’s “Extreme Physics”

Stephen W. Hawking (1942–2018)

Research by early- to mid-twentieth-century astronomers led not only to a detailed understanding of how the stars work, but also to the realization that they have finite lifetimes. Stars are born, they follow a fairly common lifestyle, and then they die, with all the details depending mostly on their mass. The most massive stars end up exploding as supernovae, leaving behind highly dense stellar cores that can become neutron stars, pulsars, or—if massive enough—black holes.

Many astrophysicists are interested in understanding these kinds of compact, high-energy objects because they and their environs are places to study some of the most extreme physics in the universe. Among the most influential of these researchers is the British cosmologist Stephen W. Hawking, who began publishing papers about the physics of black holes while a Cambridge graduate student in 1965. He has also done important work refining theories of quantum gravity, wormholes, and the Big Bang.

Hawking was particularly interested in studying singularities, the infinitely small and dense remains of the runaway collapse of massive stellar cores. He and his Cambridge colleague Roger Penrose each made critical discoveries about these strange objects, which because of their super-high gravitational and magnetic fields turn out to be excellent places to also study Einstein’s theory of general relativity and extreme examples of quantum mechanics. Hawking’s theoretical studies have led to the realization that singularities are not only possible, but they are potentially abundant in the cosmos, from quasar host galaxies to individual black hole stellar remnants. Indeed, Hawking pointed out that the big bang itself began as a singularity, and so studying the origin and behavior of singularities is providing insight into the very origin of our universe.

When he was 21, Hawking was afflicted with a motor neuron disease related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which left him paralyzed and relying on a computer to communicate. Notwithstanding an initially bleak prognosis, he persevered and become a leading theoretical physicist, inspirational best-selling author, and staunch advocate for scientific education and literacy among the general public.

Astrophysicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking at Cambridge University in 2001. Mostly paralyzed by a motor neuron disease, Hawking used facial muscles to control a computer and a voice synthesizer that enabled him to write and to deliver lectures and speeches.