Robin Bullough
- November 21, 1929
- August 30, 2008
- 78 years
About Robin Bullough
Robin Bullough, 78, British mathematical physicist.
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Full Biography
|Robin K. Bullough (21 November 1929 – 30 August 2008) was a British mathematical physicist known 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 systems (both classical and quantum), and the statistical mechanics for these systems. Bullough also contributed to nonlinear mathematical physics, including Bose–Einstein condensation in magnetic traps.
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.
Education and career
Bullough's father, William Bullough, was a teacher of German in Newcastle-under-Lyme 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 a 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 organised many conferences over his career including the first National Quantum Electronics Conferences (QEP1) in Manchester in September 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.
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 Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate 1997, was similarly honoured at this conference.
Bullough died on 30 August 2008. A symposium was organised in his honour in the Alan Turing Building in June 2009.
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Sources
- Wikipedia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Bullough
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sep 26, 2026
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- View record
- September 28, 2026
- Sep 26, 2026
Trivia & Knowledge· 16 questions
Questions drawn from Robin Bullough's archived record and the sources above.
1.On what date was Robin K. Bullough born?
- A.30 August 2008
- B.12 January 1925
- C.21 November 1929correct
- D.15 May 1932
Robin K. Bullough was born on 21 November 1929 according to his biographical record.
Source: biographical introduction
2.On what date did Robin K. Bullough pass away?
- A.14 February 2005
- B.30 August 2008correct
- C.21 November 1929
- D.10 July 1995
Robin K. Bullough passed away on 30 August 2008.
Source: biographical introduction
3.In what year did Robin K. Bullough begin his first academic position?
- A.1995
- B.1973
- C.1960correct
- D.1955
Robin K. Bullough obtained his first academic position in 1960.
Source: career history
4.What specific type of pulse was Robin K. Bullough known for studying in his early work?
- A.High-frequency sonic bursts
- B.Ultra-short optical pulsescorrect
- C.Infrared light waves
- D.Ultra-long radio waves
Robin K. Bullough is known for his work on ultra-short optical pulses.
Source: contributions section
5.What position was Robin K. Bullough appointed to at UMIST in 1973?
- A.Dean of Science
- B.Chair of Mathematical Physicscorrect
- C.Department Head of Mathematics
- D.Professor Emeritus
Robin K. Bullough was appointed chair of Mathematical Physics at UMIST in 1973.
Source: career history
6.Which field of study did Robin K. Bullough contribute to regarding magnetic traps?
- A.Nuclear fission
- B.Quantum gravity
- C.Bose–Einstein condensationcorrect
- D.Fluid dynamics
Robin K. Bullough contributed to nonlinear mathematical physics, including Bose–Einstein condensation in magnetic traps.
Source: contributions section
7.Where is the Mathematics Department at UMIST now located?
- A.University of London
- B.University of Manchestercorrect
- C.University of Oxford
- D.University of Cambridge
The Mathematics Department at UMIST has become the School of Mathematics in the University of Manchester.
Source: career history
8.In what year did Robin K. Bullough retire from his chair position?
- A.1995correct
- B.2000
- C.1990
- D.2008
Robin K. Bullough remained in the chair position until his retirement in 1995.
Source: career history
9.What type of systems did Robin K. Bullough work on involving infinite-dimensional Hamiltonians?
- A.Economic systems
- B.Geological systems
- C.Classical and quantum systemscorrect
- D.Biological systems
Robin K. Bullough worked on infinite-dimensional Hamiltonian systems including both classical and quantum types.
Source: contributions section
10.What is the primary technological application mentioned for the optical soliton in the text?
- A.Wireless radar technology
- B.Satellite navigation systems
- C.Trans-oceanic optical fibre communicationcorrect
- D.Medical imaging scanners
The theory of the optical soliton is used in trans-oceanic optical fibre communication theory.
Source: contributions section
11.What was the nationality of Robin K. Bullough?
- A.Australian
- B.American
- C.Britishcorrect
- D.Canadian
Robin K. Bullough was a British mathematical physicist.
Source: biographical introduction
12.What was Robin K. Bullough's title after he retired from the Mathematics Department?
- A.Visiting Scholar
- B.Dean Emeritus
- C.Emeritus Professorcorrect
- D.Honorary Fellow
Following his retirement, Robin K. Bullough was an emeritus Professor in the Mathematics Department.
Source: career history
13.What pulse duration scales did Robin K. Bullough study in his optical research?
- A.Nano- and femto-secondcorrect
- B.Micro- and milli-second
- C.Attosecond and zeptosecond
- D.Picosecond and nanosecond
Robin K. Bullough conducted work on ultra-short optical pulses in the nano- and femto-second range.
Source: contributions section
14.What did Robin K. Bullough derive to describe solitons?
- A.Probabilistic wave functions
- B.Polynomial expansion constants
- C.Approximated linear formulas
- D.Exact solutions to nonlinear equationscorrect
Robin K. Bullough is known for deriving exact solutions to the nonlinear equations describing solitons.
Source: contributions section
15.In which university department did Robin K. Bullough hold his first academic position?
- A.Physics Department
- B.Mathematics Departmentcorrect
- C.Engineering Department
- D.Theoretical Chemistry Department
Robin K. Bullough obtained his first academic position in the Mathematics Department at UMIST.
Source: career history
16.Robin K. Bullough is known for his contributions to which specific theory?
- A.Solitonscorrect
- B.Thermodynamics
- C.String Theory
- D.General Relativity
Robin K. Bullough was known for his contributions to the theory of solitons.
Source: biographical introduction
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