Scientist

Jacob Bekenstein

1947–2015 · theoretical physics, gravitation
Israeli-Mexican theoretical physicist who created the foundations of black hole thermodynamics. As a graduate student at Princeton, he risked suggesting that black holes possess entropy proportional to the horizon area, thus connecting general relativity and quantum mechanics. His ideas, initially rejected by Hawking, led to the joint formulation of Bekenstein-Hawking entropy.

Biography

Born in Mexico City, the family moved to Israel. He studied at the Technion (Haifa), then at Princeton University under the guidance of John Wheeler. Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Winner of the Wolf Prize in Physics, the Israel Prize. His ideas contributed to the development of the holographic principle.

Key discoveries

💡 The idea of black hole entropy came to Bekenstein under the impression of a thought experiment involving a cup of hot tea thrown into a black hole. His advisor John Wheeler supported him, saying: "You have made a huge mistake, and you will be condemned for it, but I want you to be wrong with me."
"He argued that black holes are not eternal prisons, as previously thought, and that things can escape both outward and possibly into another universe."
Concepts
black holeentropygravityspacetime curvature
Laws
Hawking radiationBekenstein-Hawking entropyno-hair theoremholographic principleHawking area theoremFirst law of black hole mechanics
Scientists
Robert HookeFritz ZwickySubrahmanyan ChandrasekharRainer WeissStephen HawkingKarl SchwarzschildJoseph WeberEmmy Noether

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