Later life and career 1966–1975 The first years of marriage were hectic: Jane lived in London during the week as she completed her degree and they travelled to the United States several times for conferences and physics-related visits. The couple had difficulty finding housing that was within Hawkings walking distance to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP). Jane began a Ph.D. program, and a son, Robert, was born in May 1967.[87][88] In his work, and in collaboration with Penrose, Hawking extended the singularity theorem concepts first explored in his doctoral thesis. This included not only the existence of singularities but also the theory that the universe might have started as a singularity. Their joint essay was the runner-up in the 1968 Gravity Research Foundation competition.[89][90] In 1970 they published a proof that if the universe obeys the general theory of relativity and fits any of the models of physical cosmology developed by Alexander Friedmann, then it must have begun as a singularity.[91][92][93] During the late 1960s, Hawkings physical abilities declined once more: he began to use crutches and ceased lecturing regularly.[94] As he slowly lost the ability to write, he developed compensatory visual methods, including seeing equations in terms of geometry.[95][96] The physicist Werner Israel later compared the achievements to Mozart composing an entire symphony in his head.[97][98] Hawking was, however, fiercely independent and unwilling to accept help or make concessions for his disabilities. He preferred to be regarded as a scientist first, popular science writer second, and, in all the ways that matter, a normal human being with the same desires, drives, dreams, and ambitions as the next person.[99] Jane Hawking later noted that Some people would call it determination, some obstinacy. Ive called it both at one time or another.[100] He required much persuasion to accept the use of a wheelchair at the end of the 1960s,[101] but ultimately became notorious for the wildness of his wheelchair driving.[100] Hawking was a popular and witty colleague, but his illness as well as his reputation for brashness and intelligence distanced him from some.[102] In 1969, Hawking accepted a specially created Fellowship for Distinction in Science to remain at Caius.[103] A daughter, Lucy, was born in 1970.[104] Soon after Hawking discovered what became known as the second law of black hole dynamics, that the event horizon of a black hole can never get smaller.[105] With James M. Bardeen and Brandon Carter, he proposed the four laws of black hole mechanics, drawing an analogy with thermodynamics.[106] To Hawkings irritation, Jacob Bekenstein, a graduate student of John Wheeler, went further—and ultimately correctly—applying thermodynamic concepts literally.[107][108] In the early 1970s, Hawkings work with Carter, Werner Israel and David C. Robinson strongly supported Wheelers no-hair theorem that no matter what the original material from which a black hole is created it can be completely described by the properties of mass, electrical charge and rotation.[109][110] His essay titled Black Holes won the Gravity Research Foundation Award in January 1971.[111] Hawkings first book The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time written with George Ellis was published in 1973.[112] Beginning in 1973, Hawking moved into the study of quantum gravity and quantum mechanics.[113][112] His work in this area was spurred by a visit to Moscow and discussions with Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich and Alexei Starobinsky, whose work showed that according to the uncertainty principle rotating black holes emit particles.[114] To Hawkings annoyance, his much-checked calculations produced findings that contradicted his second law, which claimed black holes could never get smaller,[115] and supported Bekensteins reasoning about their entropy.[116][114] His results, which Hawking presented from 1974, showed that black holes emit radiation, known today as Hawking radiation, which may continue until they exhaust their energy and evaporate.[117][118][119] Initially, Hawking radiation was controversial. However by the late 1970s and following the publication of further research, the discovery was widely accepted as a significant breakthrough in theoretical physics.[120][121][122] In March 1974, a few weeks after the announcement of Hawking radiation, Hawking was invested as a Fellow of the Royal Society, one of the youngest scientists to be so honoured.[123][124] Hawking rarely discussed his illness and physical challenges, even—in a precedent set during their courtship—with Jane.[125] Hawkings disabilities meant that the responsibilities of home and family rested firmly on his wifes increasingly overwhelmed shoulders, leaving him more time to think about physics.[126] When in 1974 Hawking was appointed to the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar visiting professorship at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Jane proposed that a graduate or post-doctoral student live with them and help with his care. Hawking accepted, and Bernard Carr travelled to California with them as the first of many students who fulfilled this role.[127][128] The family spent a generally happy and stimulating year in Pasadena.[129] Hawking worked with his friend on the faculty, Kip Thorne,[130] and engaged him in a scientific wager about whether the dark star Cygnus X-1 was a black hole. The wager was a surprising insurance policy against the proposition that black holes did not exist.[131] Hawking acknowledged that he had lost the bet in 1990, which was the first of several that he was to make with Thorne and others.[132] Hawking has maintained ties to Caltech, spending a month there almost every year since this first visit.[133]
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 05:57:14 +0000
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