Question: what is hawking radiation

Monique Henson answered on 19 Nov 2015:

Quantum physics says that pairs of particles can pop into existence (from nothing!) as long as they annihilate within a certain amount of time. The pair must consist of a particle and its antiparticle and the time limit is set by Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.

In theory, this happens all the time and is completely normal. However, if it happens near a black hole, then one of the particles can get pulled into the black hole (and go past its event horizon), whilst the other escapes. To preserve energy, the black hole has to lose mass and we would see this as it emitting a particle (radiation). There are other interpretations of Hawking radiation, but that’s the one I’m most familiar with.