Stephen Hawking may have passed away last week, but he left behind a final scientific groundwork that could lead the way to the discovery of parallel universes, according to reports.
Hawking and co-author Thomas Hertog submitted the most recent draft of their paper on March 4, just 10 days before Hawking died Wednesday at 76 years old.
“A Smooth Exit from Eternal Inflation?” was first submitted in July 2017 and can be found in Cornell University’s online distribution system for research papers, arxiv.org. It is being considered for publication by a "leading journal," according to the U.K. Times.
The paper discusses a "multiverse" theory of the universe that suggests there are an infinite number of parallel universes in addition to the one we live in, according to the Times. Hawking and Hertog propose an alternate model of the theory.
Their paper also suggests that our universe will eventually die out as stars lose their energy, CNBC reported.
Hawking had never won a Nobel Prize for his studies. Hertog, who works at KU Leuven University in Belgium, told the Times that Hawking "should have won" a Nobel prize with past nominations and "now he never can."
The award isn't given out to scientists posthumously.
