Stephen Hawking Phd Thesis

Stephen Hawking’s Ph.D. thesis is titled “Properties of Expanding Universes”. It was submitted to the University of Cambridge in 1965 (and formally accepted/awarded in 1966) under the supervision of the renowned physicist and sciama mentor Dennis Sciama.

Key details about the thesis include:

1. Core Structure and Content

The 134-page thesis investigates theoretical cosmology and the behavior of matter and light in an expanding universe. It is divided into four main chapters:

• Chapter 1: A Challenge to the Hoyle-Narlikar Theory: A mathematical examination and critique of an alternative gravitation theory proposed by Fred Hoyle and Jayant Narlikar, questioning its consistency under cosmic conditions.
• Chapter 2: Perturbations in Expanding Universes: An analysis of small irregularities and density fluctuations in an expanding, homogeneous, and isotropic universe, studying how these perturbations could eventually lead to the formation of galaxies and large cosmic structures.
• Chapter 3: Gravitational Radiation in an Expanding Universe: An investigation into the behavior and properties of gravitational waves within a changing cosmic background.
• Chapter 4: The Occurrence of Singularities in Cosmological Models: The concluding and most famous section, which demonstrates that a cosmological singularity (such as the Big Bang) is an inevitable outcome under generalized physical conditions. This laid foundational math that preceded his later work on black holes and singularity theorems with Roger Penrose.

2. Historical and Personal Context

• Diagnosis: Hawking wrote and completed the thesis while grappling with the early, rapidly progressing stages of motor neurone disease (ALS), which had been diagnosed when he was 21 years old.
• Public Release: For decades, accessing the thesis required special permission or payment to the university library. In October 2017, the University of Cambridge made the thesis openly accessible online via its repository. Public demand was so massive that it immediately crashed the university’s server traffic.