I've read about conjecture that this is a mechanism by which black holes can "evaporate." A pair pops in near the event horizon, one particle goes into black hole and annihilates with some other particle, while its original partner goes off into space. No idea if there's anything other than speculation about this.
Does it strike anyone else as odd that something as miniscule as the creation of a particle/antiparticle duo can happen in such a position in relation to the event horizon of a BH that one of the duo can be on either side of the event horizon? My understanding is that an event horizon is not that clearly defined.
Better have a word with them, Bill, they might not have thought of that
I wonder if we'll hear any more re this: "Physicists may have observed Hawking radiation for the first time" September 28, 2010
"Event horizons are not unique to black holes; they can be exhibited in a variety of physical systems, from flowing water to a moving “refractive index perturbation” (RIP) in a dielectric medium (in which light can change the medium's refractive index). It's this latter system that Belgiorno and his colleagues used in their experiment."
http://www.physorg.com/news204866995.html
