Hundreds of ticket-hungry patrons lined up inside Holyoke Center yesterday afternoon, hoping to snag a seat for a series of lectures given by noted astrophysicist Stephen W. Hawking.

The lectures, which will occur in Sanders Theatre on Sept. 27, 28 and Oct. 5, are free and open to the public, though tickets are required. Tickets were distributed at the Harvard University Ticket Office starting at noon yesterday.

All three lectures sold out in a little over an hour.

Each person received up to two tickets for each lecture.

Hawking is the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a chair once held by Sir Isaac Newton. His 1988 book A Brief History of Time has been a bestseller explaining the cutting edge of astrophysics to those outside the field. Hawking is a fellow of the Royal Society and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Guards at the Holyoke Center expressed surprise in the large numbers of people present. One guard said they had not been warned of the ticket distribution and thus were understaffed. The line stretched throughout the first floor of the Holyoke Center and outside. The guards helped to keep the lines orderly and keep the entrances to the Holyoke Center and its shops open.