Question

I was reading Brian Greene's Hidden Reality and came to the part about Hawking Radiation. Quantum jitters that occur near the event horizon of a black hole, which create both positive-energy particles and negative-energy particles, produce the so-called Hawking radiation. However, I do not understand why only the negative-energy particles are being absorbed into the black hole, while the positive-energy particles shoot outward. Shouldn't there be 50/50 chance that each type of particle is being absorbed by the black hole? Also, the book mentions that a negative-energy particle would appear to an observer inside the black hole as positive. Why?

Answer 1

Near the event horizon of a black hole, only negative-energy particles are absorbed while positive-energy particles shoot outward due to the effects of extreme gravitational distortion. From the perspective of an observer inside the black hole, a negative-energy particle appears as positive due to the bending of light and altered perception of energy.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to the concept of Hawking radiation, near the event horizon of a black hole, quantum jitters can create both positive-energy particles and negative-energy particles. While both types of particles are produced, only the negative-energy particles are absorbed by the black hole, while the positive-energy particles shoot outward.

This is because the negative-energy particles have the opportunity to fall into the black hole, while the positive-energy particles gain enough energy to escape the black hole's gravitational pull.

Regarding your second question, from the perspective of an observer inside the black hole, a negative-energy particle would appear as a positive-energy particle. This is due to the effects of extreme gravitational distortion near the black hole. The intense gravity bends light and alters the perception of energy, causing the negative-energy particle to be perceived as positive.