Just a couple of weeks before his death, Stephen Hawking submitted a scientific paper for publication in which he formulated the theoretical basis for proving the existence of parallel universes. Together with the physicist Thomas Hertog, Hawking's posthumous work provides the necessary mathematics to demonstrate the existence, or not, of a Multiverse, in which the Universe we live in would hardly be one of multiple universes each arising from its own Big Bang.
The brilliant British physicist claimed to be convinced that the evidence of the existence of parallel universes is hidden in the microwave background radiation, the heat echo of the Big Bang, and proposed the construction of a scientific probe equipped with a series of specific sensors and capable of collecting data from those other universes around us.
Previous works have come to postulate contact zones between our universe and other parallels, but the calculations necessary to handle these concepts have always ended up showing an uncomfortable and unmanageable series of infinite results.
Hawking, by contrast, has laid the groundwork for transforming the multiverse idea into a testable scientific framework. A gigantic inheritance that, if verified experimentally, would mean a whole new era for physics and human knowledge.