Does a black hole die?

Answer 1

Stephen Hawking postulated that black holes can radiate energy (very little energy), contrary to the opinion held by most scientists, up to then, that nothing could escape a black hole.

Strangely enough (for us, not for Hawking), the smaller the black hole, the greater the radiation. So, if a black hole started off small enough, it could lose mass through this Hawking Radiation, and finally "die" in a sudden burst of radiation (i.e., after the burst, there is no longer a black hole).

For a stellar size black hole (caused by the collapse of a dying star), the time it would take for it to be totally radiated away is far greater than the age of the universe -- plus the fact that the black hole could be gobbing up mass much faster than it radiates away.

Answer 2

The obvious answer is that since a black hole is not alive it can not die.
My sense of humor having been satisfied I will interpret your question to be asking if it can cease to exist.
I don't remember where I read about the work but I believe that there are two ways that mass can escape from inside a black hole. If enough mass escapes the gravitational attraction diminishes and the object is no longer a black hole.
I believe that the first relates mostly to small black holes. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle allows that there is a finite probability for a particle to become outside the Event Horizon without traversing the Event Horizon.
The second relates to spinning black holes and the escape of mass that has transformed into energy. I believe this also has something to do with the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

Answer 3

A very interesting question....

I have read throughout the years on Black Holes, so I'll attempt to answer.

First off, most black holes are probably the burnt out cores of massive stars. So in effect, they are already corpses. They have just started doing what they do--accreting anything they come across. They have very powerful gravitational fields, so if they pass by something, they are going to try to eat it. That means that they are always growing!

For a black hole to "die," I would assume that something would have to happen to make it stop doing what it is doing. There was an interesting theory posed in Astronomy (or was it Sky and Telescope?) a number of years ago, where if a black hole got too big it would break off and form a "baby universe," seperating from our universe and making a new one. I don't know if that qualifies as death.

Here's the rub--How big does it have to get before that happens? There are black holes at the centers of galaxies that are millions of solar masses in size. they aren't popping out of existence.

I personally think that Black holes do not die, they are already dead. There isn't really an active process there, just gravitational collapse. So they can't "die."

Hope this helps.

Here's a link for further reading....

^Edit^

Doh! Totally forgot about the Hawking Radiation bit for smaller black holes--thanks folks!

Answer 4

Eventually yes they will, but it will be long after the stars and even galaxies have died out. Eventually because of how the universe is spreading out everything will of "died" and there will possibly be another big bang.

Answer 5

I believe they decay after about 10^66 years, give or take a few weeks.

This site says 10e100 so I guess there's a controversy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe#Black_holes_disintegrate:_10E100_years

Answer 6

Stephan Hawking showed how they evaporate over very long periods of time, particle by particle.