Black Hole Radiation?

AbsoluteZer0

Hi,

According to Stephen Hawking, it is theoretically possible for black holes to emit radiation. How is this so? As I understand, please correct me if i'm wrong, it has to do with the creation of particle/antiparticle pairs. Are these particles generated as a result of the intense gravitational attraction near the event horizon? (Does the gravitational attraction near the event horizon differ at all from the other locations in the black hole?) If the above is correct, do the particles escape through tunneling?

Thanks,

mfb

They are "generated" everywhere and all the time* - they are responsible for the Casimir effect, too, for example, which can be measured here on earth and without any gravity.

Close to the event horizon, one particle might pass the horizon - the other particle outside cannot "see" it any more to annihilate and there is a chance that it can escape. Don't take this analogy too far.

*that view is problematic itself, but it works here.