Hawking for everyone: Commemorating half a century of an unfinished scientific revolution

TL;DR

This paper uses dimensional analysis to derive and explain Hawking's black hole temperature formula, making this fundamental discovery accessible and understandable to a broad audience.

Contribution

It introduces a simple dimensional analysis approach to derive and interpret Hawking's temperature, enhancing public understanding of black hole thermodynamics.

Findings

Derived Hawking temperature using dimensional analysis

Clarified the physical meaning of the Hawking equation

Explored key physical consequences of black hole thermodynamics

Abstract

This year marks half a century since Stephen Hawking made his greatest scientific discovery by theoretically proving that black holes aint so black, as they behave like hot bodies with an absolute temperature that depends inversely on their mass. This discovery is expressed by a simple and elegant equation known as the Hawking temperature. The best way to commemorate this great scientific event is by bringing it to a wide audience. The simplest and most transparent and intuitive tool to achieve this goal is dimensional analysis. The objective of this work is to use this tool to derive the Hawking equation, reveal its meaning, and explore its main physical consequences.