Preparation and manipulation of a fault-tolerant superconducting qubit

We describe a qubit encoded in continuous quantum variables of an rf superconducting quantum interference device. Since the number of accessible states in the system is infinite, we may protect its two-dimensional subspace from small errors introduced by the interaction with the environment and during manipulations. We show how to prepare the fault-tolerant state and manipulate the system. The discussed operations suffice to perform quantum computation on the encoded state, syndrome extraction, and quantum error correction. We also comment on the physical sources of errors and possible imperfections while manipulating the system.Comment: Typo corrected, title changed as suggested by the editors of Phys. Rev. B, references adde

Metastable Voltage States of Coupled Josephson Junctions

We investigate a chain of capacitively coupled Josephson junctions in the regime where the charging energy dominates over the Josephson coupling, exploiting the analogy between this system and a multi-dimensional crystal. We find that the current-voltage characteristic of the current-driven chain has a staircase shape, beginning with an (insulating) non-zero voltage plateau at small currents. This behavior differs qualitatively from that of a single junction, which should show Bloch oscillations with vanishing dc voltage. The simplest system where this effect can be observed consists of three grains connected by two junctions. The theory explains the results of recent experiments on Josephson junction arrays.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures include

The significance of work allocation in the professional apprenticeship of solicitors

It is a peculiarity of the solicitors’ profession that it has historically relied on methods of pre-qualification ‘training’ by way of apprenticeship and that an entirely respectable non-graduate route into the profession remains. In a political context, however, where the profession is called upon positively to demonstrate its standards of performance, the professional regulator seeks to attach a competence framework to the existing model; shifting the focus from how the trainee learns to what the trainee learns. This paper will explore the period of traineeship from the perspective of the trainees themselves, drawing on two small qualitative studies, focussing on the fundamental context factor of the allocation and structuring of their work. In the first study the context for this evaluation is the set of outcomes being tested by the professional regulator and in the second, the perceptions of qualified individuals looking back at their apprenticeship, The paper concludes that there remains work for the profession to do not only in fostering supportive and expansive apprenticeships, but in attending, however, supportive the surrounding environment, to the work being carried out by trainees and its relationship with the work carried out by newly qualified solicitors

Statistics of voltage fluctuations in resistively shunted Josephson junctions

The intrinsic nonlinearity of Josephson junctions converts Gaussian current noise in the input into non-Gaussian voltage noise in the output. For a resistively shunted Josephson junction with white input noise we determine numerically exactly the properties of the few lowest cumulants of the voltage fluctuations, and we derive analytical expressions for these cumulants in several important limits. The statistics of the voltage fluctuations is found to be Gaussian at bias currents well above the Josephson critical current, but Poissonian at currents below the critical value. In the transition region close to the critical current the higher-order cumulants oscillate and the voltage noise is strongly non-Gaussian. For coloured input noise we determine the third cumulant of the voltage.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

The role of law and ethics in developing business management as a profession

Currently, business management is far from being recognised as a profession. This paper suggests that a professional spirit should be developed which could function as a filter of commercial reasoning. Broadly, management will not be organised within the framework of a well-established profession unless formal knowledge, licensing, professional autonomy and professional codes of conduct are developed sufficiently. In developing business management as a profession, law may play a key role. Where the idea is that business management should be more professsionalised, managers must show that they are willing to adopt ethical values, while arriving at business decisions. The paper argues that ethics cannot survive without legal regulation, which, in turn, will not be supported by law unless lawyers can find alternative solutions to the large mechanisms of the official society, secured by the monopolised coercion of the nation state. From a micro perspective of law and business ethics, communities can be developed with their own conventions, rules and standards that are generated and sanctioned within the boundaries of the communities themselves

Density Dependent Parametrization Models: Formalism and Applications

In this work we derive a formalism to incorporate asymmetry and temperature effects in the Brown-Rho (BR) scaled lagrangian model in a mean field theory. The lagrangian density discussed in this work requires less parameters than the usual models with density dependent couplings. We also present the formalism with the inclusion of the eight lightest baryons, two lightest leptons, beta equilibrium and charge neutrality in order to apply the BR scaled model to the study of neutron stars. The results are again compared with the ones obtained from another density dependent parametrization model. The role played by the rearrangement term at T=0 for nuclear or neutron star matter and at finite temperature is investigated. The BR scaled model is shown to be a good tool in studies involving density dependent effective masses and in astrophysics applications.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figure

Coaching, supervision and the social work zeitgeist

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Practice on 20/3/2013 available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09503153.2013.775237With reference to local authorities in England, this paper acknowledges the intensified critique of the managerial context in which social work is carried out. It recognizes that professional supervision has been in jeopardy, as principles of corporate line management have overshadowed the approaches of the past, and most particularly the supportive components. However, recent developments have reinvigorated the interest in relationship based social work as well as relationship based supervision. Surprisingly or not, it is executive and business coaching that is seen as offering fruitful techniques for front line managers and practitioners, with the possibility of encouraging the progress of this particular trend

Formal descriptions of material manipulations: an exploration with cuts and shadows

Shape computation in design is never purely limited to visual aspects and ideally includes material aspects as well. The physicality of designing introduces a wide range of variables for designers to tackle within the design process. We present a simple design exercise realised in four stages where we physically manipulate perforated cardboard sheets as a case to make material variables explicit in the computation. The emphasis is on representing sensory aspects rather than easily quantifiable properties more suitable for simulations. Our explorations demonstrate the use of visual rules to represent actions, variables and form as well as how to control the variables to create new results, both desired and surprising, in materially informed ways