It is an equation that he developed together with the Israeli physicist Jacob Bekenstein in the 70s, and that represents a key aspect of his findings about black holes.

The formula relates the so-called entropy of Bekenstein-Hawking (SBH) with the surface of the black hole in question (A). In physics, entropy is a measure of disorder, or how much information an object or system can hold. The remaining terms of the equation are constants (k is the Boltzmann constant, c the speed of light, ħ the Planck constant reduced and G the universal gravitation constant). Therefore, the entropy of a black hole is directly proportional to its surface.

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In fact, the first who proposed that black holes had entropy was Jacob Bekenstein, according to The New York Times in his obituary to Stephen Hawking. At first, Hawking did not accept Bekenstein's hypothesis. However, he later decided to apply quantum mechanics to study black holes, and discovered that they were not the abysses that let nothing escape that physicists had believed they were until then.

Hawking was surprised to find that, according to his equations, black holes must indeed have entropy and temperature. And that they had to emit radiation, baptized later as Hawking radiation.

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Hawking radiation has not been observed to date, since it is of a minute magnitude, very difficult to detect. However, the simulations of black holes made between the seventies and the present indicate that it is most likely to exist.

If it is finally realized, the epitaph of Stephen Hawking's tomb would draw a parallel with the first scientist who proposed the concept of entropy, Ludwig Boltzmann. This physicist and Austrian philosopher, the same one who gives his name to Boltzmann's constant, has the formula for calculating entropy engraved on his tombstone.

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