<strong>5 ground-breaking inventions by Stephen Hawking </strong>
Stephen William Hawking is one of the most exemplary physicists that the world has ever known. This British theoretical physicist has been responsible for several scientific breakthroughs and ground-breaking innovations, that revolutionised the world of Physics. Most of his contributions have been published in his best-selling book “A Brief History of Time” (1988). These include a range of topics such as cosmology, Big Bang, black holes, and light cones among others. Here are five of his inventions which stand apart in their own right. Let us take a closer look at them.
Singularities
In the year 1970, Hawking did a path-breaking work on singularities in reference to the black hole, a celestial body, that is considered to be the densest material in the universe, that was born out of a massive collapsing star). Singularities can be defined as a point or region in a particular space and time in which gravity causes matter (component of the universe having a mass) to have an infinite density (unlimited mass per unit volume). Also known as Hawking Singularity Theorem, this theory deduces that gravitation produces singularities, meaning that the black hole emerges from the singularities and doesn’t let light escape.
Laws of Black Hole mechanics
In 1971-72, Hawking developed the Black Hole Area Theorem, popularly known as the law of Black Hole mechanics. The law states that the total surface area of the black hole can never turn smaller. This is because, over time, even though the black hole emits particles, its rate is extraordinarily small, in fact, far too small to be detected. For this reason, the size of the black hole remains unaffected.
Cosmic Inflation theory
In 1982, Hawking found out after an extensive study that the universe has been expanding exponentially, since the Big Bang (an explosion that gave rise to the universe). In fact, he was the first theoretical physicist to calculate quantum fluctuations, random and temporary change in the amount of energy in a point in space. His findings revealed that this expansion might one day give rise to the spread of galaxies.
Model of the Universe’s Wave Function
In the year following the Cosmic Inflation theory, Hawking developed another theory on the formation of evaluation. In fact, this theory is a direct continuation of Cosmic Inflation theory and states that the entity of time and space did not exist before the Big Bang explosion. For this reason, the concept of the beginning of the universe is nothing but meaningless.
Top-Down Theory on Cosmology
In 2006, Hawking’s theory on Top-Down Cosmology revealed that the universe didn’t have only one unique initial state but consisted of many possible initial conditions. In fact, it is based on this theory, that modern day physicists trace the histories of the universe backwards.