Unveiling the Quantum Nature of Black Holes: Towards a Proof of Hawking Radiation through Gamma-Ray Observations

Hawking's groundbreaking prediction that black holes emit thermal radiation and ultimately evaporate remains unverified due to the extreme faintness of this radiation for stellar-mass or larger black holes. In this study, we propose a novel observational strategy to detect Hawking radiation from asteroid-mass black hole morsels—hypothetical small black holes formed and ejected during catastrophic events like binary black hole mergers. These black hole morsels may account for the missing mass in merger events and are predicted to emit gamma rays across the GeV to TeV energy range on observable timescales. We analyze data from the Fermi-Large Area Telescope coinciding with the binary black hole merger GW170814, searching for gamma-ray signatures delayed relative to the gravitational wave signal—indicative of radiation from such black hole morsels. Additionally, we assess the detectability of this phenomenon with both existing and future telescopes and explore its implications for fundamental physics.