Hawking Radiation | Cosmos Line | Stephen Hawking | Unisex Crewneck Sweatshirt

phenomenon known as Hawking Radiation, which describes how black holes are not truly "black" but slowly evaporate over vast stretches of time. The diagram features the smooth curve of the event horizon—the point of no return.

The central concept depicted is the formation of a virtual particle pair (a particle and its corresponding antiparticle) near the event horizon. Normally, these pairs instantaneously annihilate each other. However, due to quantum fluctuations right at the edge of the black hole, one particle may fall in while the other escapes to infinity, effectively carrying away energy from the black hole.

This groundbreaking idea was proposed by Stephen Hawking in 1974, merging quantum mechanics (the virtual particles) with general relativity (the black hole's gravity). This process causes the black hole to lose mass, or "evaporate." Though never directly observed, Hawking Radiation is a cornerstone of theoretical physics, suggesting that even the ultimate cosmic vacuum cleaner must eventually fade. This shirt honors Hawking's immense contribution to our understanding of gravity, quantum mechanics, and the ultimate fate of the universe.