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Stephen Hawking

Do we live in a multiverse? Stephen Hawking submitted a final paper days before his death

Mary Bowerman
USA TODAY

Stephen Hawking submitted a final paper days before his death that could lead to the discovery of parallel universes. 

Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking has passed away at his home in Cambridge, March 14, 2018.

Hawking, who died last week at 76, was listed as a co-author on the paper, which lays the framework for how researchers could someday test the "multiverse" theory, or the existence of an infinite number of universes in addition to our own, The Sunday Times reported. 

Arxiv.org, an online distribution system for research papers owned by Cornell University, shows the paper, titled A Smooth Exit from Eternal Inflation, was first submitted by Hawking's fellow co-author Thomas Hertog in July 2017. The latest version of the paper was submitted on March 4, just days before Hawking's death.

The Times reports that if the theory is correct, Hawking and Hertog would likely be candidates for the Nobel Prize, which Hawking has never won.

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Because Nobel Prizes cannot be awarded posthumously, Hawking will never be recognized. 

"He has often been nominated for the Nobel and should have won it," Hertolg told the Times. "Now he never can.”

Once the review process is complete, the paper will be published in an unnamed journal, according to the Sunday Times. 

 

 

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