The Core

How can black holes shine?

You'll need a little bit of quantum physics for this.
We'll explain it:

In quantum physics the empty space isn't empty at all. In it there are always particles flashing into existence and disappear again. They always come in pairs; one particle and one anti-particle, like an electron and a positron, or a photon (a particle of light) and another photon with opposite spin and impulse. These particles are called "virtual particles". They only exist for a very short time:

; where f is their frequency.

The heisenberg Principle of Uncertainty:

The energy of one photon:

The energy of a pair of photons:

Let's do some calculations !

Example Calculation:
The life time of a photon of orange light () :

(80 attoseconds, one attosecond is a millionth of a millionth of a millionth of a second.)

"Black holes aren't black - After Hawking they shine!"
Presented by Angie, Matthias and Thorsten
Team C007571,ThinkQuest Internet Challenge 2000.
Last modified: 2000-08-04.