Introduction
Building on our relational reframing of black holes, we turn now to Hawking radiation — a theoretical phenomenon born at the intersection of quantum theory and general relativity. Traditionally described as particle emissions from black holes, Hawking radiation is often treated as a physical fact awaiting empirical confirmation. But from a relational ontology perspective, it is better understood as a symbolic extension of the black hole system’s structured potential, an enacted anticipation rather than a settled reality.
The System of Hawking Radiation: Structured Theoretical Potential
Hawking radiation arises within a complex theoretical system synthesising quantum field theory and curved spacetime. This system outlines how vacuum fluctuations near a black hole’s event horizon could manifest as energy emissions, with profound implications for black hole thermodynamics.
However, this system is itself a construal: a carefully articulated symbolic structure that delineates what kinds of phenomena might be possible within this theoretical framework. It is not a direct window onto an independent physical reality but a map of potential occurrences framed by the intersection of two powerful theories.
Instantiation as Perspectival Cut: Anticipation and Enactment
To date, Hawking radiation has not been empirically observed. When scientists speak confidently of its existence, they perform a perspectival cut — construing the system’s theoretical potentials as instantiated phenomena anticipated within ongoing research.
This cut is an act of symbolic anticipation, projecting Hawking radiation into observational and experimental futures, shaping how data is interpreted and what counts as evidence. The phenomenon’s reality is thus constituted by discourse, expectation, and the alignment of theoretical and practical possibilities.
Constitutive Meaning: Reality as Enacted Prediction
In this relational framing, Hawking radiation is not a pre-existing physical emission awaiting discovery. Instead, it becomes real through the symbolic activity of theorising, modelling, and experimental design.
Its meaning is constitutive, emerging as part of a dynamic process in which the boundaries of black hole phenomena are expanded reflexively through scientific practice. This positions Hawking radiation as a phenomenon-in-waiting, sustained by its conceptual and methodological embedding rather than direct empirical grounding.
Reflexive Dynamics: Shaping Research and Imagination
The very idea of Hawking radiation reshapes astrophysics. It challenges notions of black hole permanence, motivates the search for new evidence, and influences the design of instruments and missions.
Simultaneously, it fuels the imagination—both scientific and public—about the quantum nature of spacetime and the ultimate fate of black holes. This reflexivity underscores how symbolic and practical dimensions co-evolve within the scientific field.
Conclusion
By viewing Hawking radiation through relational ontology, we move beyond a representationalist framework that separates reality and theory. Instead, we see it as a symbolic extension of cosmic possibility—a construal that enacts new horizons within astrophysical discourse.
In the next post of this series, we will consider the singularity — the mathematical and conceptual boundary at the heart of black holes — and what it reveals about the limits and power of theoretical construal.
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