3 ms·
The illustration tries to visualize a (gravitational) potential by equitorial lines, and to cut where the event horizon is in Schwarzschild coordinates. Such an
by ktpsns 8y ago
The illustration tries to visualize a (gravitational) potential by equitorial lines, and to cut where the event horizon is in Schwarzschild coordinates. Such an illustration is probably an honour to Karl Schwarzschild (the guy who first solved Einstein's general relativistic field equations) but not to Hawking, who got famous for making first predictions how quantum matter interacts with general relativistic spacetimes, i.e. black holes.
It's only the equation which displays the definition of Bekenstein-Hawking entropy which is connected to Hawking.
I'm not an expert in designing coins, but I feel this is not the best way to visualize Hawkings impact on science.
- saiya-jin 8y agoI think you go too deep. For most folks, Hawking = black holes, and this is a fine illustration on a very limited canvas. I personally consider it much cooler rather than just some tiny portrait / picture of person in a wheelchair.
- steve76 8y agoWhat if the letters represent information radiated from the boundary of the event horizon? That's pretty cool. He's first, and then the equation is second.
- gjm11 8y agoIt also looks to me as if his name is being subjected to some weird anti-tidal effect -- stretched out laterally -- when in fact the exact opposite happens to anything falling into a black hole. (See e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghettification https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghettification)