Robin Bullough
Encyclopedia
Robin K. Bullough was a British
Mathematical Physicist famous for his contributions to the theory of solitons, in particular for his role in the development of the theory of the optical soliton, now commonly used, for example, in the theory of trans-oceanic optical fibre communication theory, but first recognised in Bullough's work on ultra-short (nano- and femto-second) optical pulses. He is also known for deriving exact solutions to the nonlinear equations describing these solitons and for associated work on integrable systems, infinite-dimensional Hamiltonian system
s (both classical and quantum), and the statistical mechanics for these systems. Bullough has also contributed to nonlinear mathematical physics, including Bose-Einstein condensation in magnetic trap
s.
Bullough obtained his first academic position in the Mathematics Department
at UMIST
in 1960 and was appointed chair of Mathematical Physics in 1973 where he remained until his retirement in 1995. He was then an Emeritus Professor in the same department, which has now become the School of Mathematics in the University of Manchester
.
and was himself a graduate of the Victoria University of Manchester
. His mother Edith (née Norman) was also a teacher and both parents were Quakers.
Although universally known as Robin, he was actually christened Robert Keith Bullough. Both Robin and his elder brother Donald
attended Newcastle High School (then a direct grant grammar school
). Donald went on to become a successful professor of medieval history.
On leaving School at 16 Bullough obtained a scholarship to Emmanuel College, Cambridge
but had to do National Service
in the RAF in 1948 and 1949. Three days before his demobilisation he had an accident putting a rawl plug into a
wall as piece of steel from a chisel flew into his left eye. He was practically blind in that eye from then on. He obtained a BA in Natural Sciences at Cambridge, specialising in Theoretical Physics for part II. He went on to obtain a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Leeds
in 1957.
He then obtained a job as a Mathematical Physicist at the British Rayon Research Association
in Manchester between 1959 and 1960 before obtaining a post as lecturer at UMIST. Bullough travelled widely to facilitate collaboration, with regular visiting appointments and research visits to Copenhagen
, Jyväskylä
, Los Alamos
, DTH Lyngby in Denmark, and Ben Gurion University in Israel.
He was promoted to Reader in 1967 and Professor of Mathematical Physics in 1973.
He organized many conferences over his career including the first National Quantum Electronics Conferences (QEP1) in Manchester in Sept. 1973 and at which he made a first report of 'optical solitons', this was the first of fifteen biennial meetings.
By 1973 his research group in UMIST had found solutions to the sine-Gordon
and the self-induced transparency (SIT) equations for their multi-soliton solutions and gone on to both introduce, and to solve the initial value problem for, the system they called the ‘Reduced Maxwell-Bloch (RMB) Equations’ .
Bullough supervised 24 successful doctoral students and had some 33 post doctoral research associates and visiting fellows. He has an Erdős number
of 4.
In 1999 he gave the specially invited 'Special Foundation Lecture' at the Fourteenth UK National Quantum Electronics & Photonics Conference (QEP14) held at the University of Manchester. The lecture was entitled "The optical soliton of QE1 is the BEC of QE14: has the quantum soliton arrived?" paid tribute to his 45 years work in this area. This work in theoretical quantum optics includes the discovery of the "optical soliton" as such around 1973. Only Stephen Chu, Nobel Laureate 1997, was similarly honoured at this conference.
Bullough died on 30 August 2008. A symposium was organinsed in his honour in the Alan Turing Building
in June 2009 .
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Mathematical Physicist famous for his contributions to the theory of solitons, in particular for his role in the development of the theory of the optical soliton, now commonly used, for example, in the theory of trans-oceanic optical fibre communication theory, but first recognised in Bullough's work on ultra-short (nano- and femto-second) optical pulses. He is also known for deriving exact solutions to the nonlinear equations describing these solitons and for associated work on integrable systems, infinite-dimensional Hamiltonian system
Hamiltonian system
In physics and classical mechanics, a Hamiltonian system is a physical system in which forces are momentum invariant. Hamiltonian systems are studied in Hamiltonian mechanics....
s (both classical and quantum), and the statistical mechanics for these systems. Bullough has also contributed to nonlinear mathematical physics, including Bose-Einstein condensation in magnetic trap
Magnetic trap
Magnetic trap refers to one of three types of traps used for atoms or charged particles:* Magnetic trap , used to trap neutral atoms in a magnetic field gradient...
s.
Bullough obtained his first academic position in the Mathematics Department
School of Mathematics, University of Manchester
The School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester is one of the largest mathematics departments in the United Kingdom, with around 80 academic staff and an undergraduate intake of roughly 400 a year and another 200 postgraduate students...
at UMIST
UMIST
The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for research...
in 1960 and was appointed chair of Mathematical Physics in 1973 where he remained until his retirement in 1995. He was then an Emeritus Professor in the same department, which has now become the School of Mathematics in the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
.
Education and career
Bullough's father, William Bullough, was a teacher of German in Newcastle-under-LymeNewcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town in Staffordshire, England, and is the principal town of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is part of The Potteries Urban Area and North Staffordshire. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 73,944...
and was himself a graduate of the Victoria University of Manchester
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
. His mother Edith (née Norman) was also a teacher and both parents were Quakers.
Although universally known as Robin, he was actually christened Robert Keith Bullough. Both Robin and his elder brother Donald
Donald A. Bullough
Donald Auberon Bullough was a British historian who taught and published on the cultural and political history of Italy, England and Carolingian France during the early Middle Ages. He was the brother of mathematician Robin Bullough...
attended Newcastle High School (then a direct grant grammar school
Direct grant grammar school
A direct grant grammar school was a selective secondary school in England and Wales between 1945 and 1976 funded partly by the state and partly through private fees....
). Donald went on to become a successful professor of medieval history.
On leaving School at 16 Bullough obtained a scholarship to Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
but had to do National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
in the RAF in 1948 and 1949. Three days before his demobilisation he had an accident putting a rawl plug into a
wall as piece of steel from a chisel flew into his left eye. He was practically blind in that eye from then on. He obtained a BA in Natural Sciences at Cambridge, specialising in Theoretical Physics for part II. He went on to obtain a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
in 1957.
He then obtained a job as a Mathematical Physicist at the British Rayon Research Association
British Rayon Research Association
The British Rayon Research Association was a research institute formed in 1946 by the British Rayon Federation and others. It was funded by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and by voluntary funds from industry to investigate the chemical and physical properties of rayon and...
in Manchester between 1959 and 1960 before obtaining a post as lecturer at UMIST. Bullough travelled widely to facilitate collaboration, with regular visiting appointments and research visits to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä is the capital of Central Finland and the largest city on the Finnish Lakeland, north-east of Tampere and north of Helsinki, on northern coast of lake Päijänne. The city has been continuously one of the most rapidly growing cities in Finland since World War II. The city is surrounded...
, Los Alamos
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos is a townsite and census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, built upon four mesas of the Pajarito Plateau and the adjoining White Rock Canyon. The population of the CDP was 12,019 at the 2010 Census. The townsite or "the hill" is one part of town while...
, DTH Lyngby in Denmark, and Ben Gurion University in Israel.
He was promoted to Reader in 1967 and Professor of Mathematical Physics in 1973.
He organized many conferences over his career including the first National Quantum Electronics Conferences (QEP1) in Manchester in Sept. 1973 and at which he made a first report of 'optical solitons', this was the first of fifteen biennial meetings.
By 1973 his research group in UMIST had found solutions to the sine-Gordon
Sine-Gordon equation
The sine–Gordon equation is a nonlinear hyperbolic partial differential equation in 1 + 1 dimensions involving the d'Alembert operator and the sine of the unknown function. It was originally considered in the nineteenth century in the course of study of surfaces of constant negative...
and the self-induced transparency (SIT) equations for their multi-soliton solutions and gone on to both introduce, and to solve the initial value problem for, the system they called the ‘Reduced Maxwell-Bloch (RMB) Equations’ .
Bullough supervised 24 successful doctoral students and had some 33 post doctoral research associates and visiting fellows. He has an Erdős number
Erdos number
The Erdős number describes the "collaborative distance" between a person and mathematician Paul Erdős, as measured by authorship of mathematical papers.The same principle has been proposed for other eminent persons in other fields.- Overview :...
of 4.
In 1999 he gave the specially invited 'Special Foundation Lecture' at the Fourteenth UK National Quantum Electronics & Photonics Conference (QEP14) held at the University of Manchester. The lecture was entitled "The optical soliton of QE1 is the BEC of QE14: has the quantum soliton arrived?" paid tribute to his 45 years work in this area. This work in theoretical quantum optics includes the discovery of the "optical soliton" as such around 1973. Only Stephen Chu, Nobel Laureate 1997, was similarly honoured at this conference.
Bullough died on 30 August 2008. A symposium was organinsed in his honour in the Alan Turing Building
Alan Turing Building
The Alan Turing Building, named after the mathematician and founder of computer science Alan Turing, is a building at the University of Manchester, in Manchester, England. It houses the School of Mathematics, the Photon Science Institute and the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics...
in June 2009 .