Other Stuff
- Sending quantum information down channels which cannot convey quantum information: A perspective in Science. A copy is available here.
- Quantum computing as free falling: A Science perspective on quantum computation as geometry. A copy is available here.
- Quantum information can be negative: an accessible description of my paper with Horodecki and Winter in Nature
- Copyright transfer and physics journals: the American Physical Societ has accepted our proposal to allow authors to freely make available parts of their work.
- Administration Free Thursdays: every Thursday, no grant proposals, no fellowship applications, no reports, no booking of speakers or claiming of expenses. We just do physics.
Administration Free Thursdays
Every Thursday at the Center for Quantum Information and Foundations, is administration free. That means no grant proposals, no fellowship applications, no reports, no booking of speakers or claiming of expenses. We just do physics. And the bestest, funnest physics at that. Take Thursday to contemplate an interesting problem, learn something new, tackle a calculation, or share an idea.To aid you in observing Free-Thursdays, we submitted your most frequently asked questions to the Free Thursdays Rabbinical Council, who have kindly provided us with the answers below:
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Administration Free Thursday (AFT) mandatory?
- What if my grant proposal is due on Friday?
- Can I read email on Thursday?
- Can I write up a paper on Thursday?
- Is it okay to discuss the rules of AFT during
AFT?
- When time does AFT officially start and end?
- I'm not at the CQC, can I participate in AFT?
- Why Thursday, and not say, Wednesday?
- Who made the rules for AFT, and how can they be
changed?
- I'm an administrator, what should I do on AFT?
Frequently Answered Questions
- Is Administration Free Thursday mandatory?
- Well, no, but you will be taunted if you perform administration. Mercilessly. And if you attempt to cause someone else do to administration, you will be beaten.
- What if my grant proposal is due the next day?
- Tough luck. You should have thought of that on Wednesday.
- Can I read email on Thursday?
- There is a lot of debate in scholarly circles about this question. The truly devote don't read email, because they recognize that even seeing the subject line of an administrative email will yank them out of their thoughtful trance. In fact, even using a computer on AFT is considered by some to be blasphemy. Without a computer, you are forced to confront the void of your blank blackboard. The less devout sometimes check their email, but only if they are in the midst of a scientific exchange. Some may choose to have all their email forwarded to a "minder", who will let them know if an important scientific email has arrived. Others, may want to set an automatic reply, with something like "Today is administration free Thursdays, and I am not reading my email. If you have a matter of extremely important physics to discuss, you can call Buella at 01223 765 900, who will contact me."
- Can I write up a paper on Thursday?
- No.
- Is it okay to discuss the rules of AFT during AFT?
- No
- When does Admin. Free Thursdays officially start and end?
- From sunrise on Thursday to sunrise on Friday. We should note that there is a splinter faction which believes that it is okay to check email after sunset on Thursday.
- I'm not at the CQC, can I participate in AFT?
- No, you must join the CQC first. Just kidding -- actually a number of other groups observe AFT -- please email jono(at)damtp.cam.ac.uk, and let us know so we can add you to our rapidly growing list of participating groups. You are also encouraged to promote AFT by displaying the AFT logo. Insert these few lines of code into your webpage.
- Why Thursday, and not say, Wednesday?
- The fact that AFT is on Thursday is very important, and was chosen as part of a master plan to rid the world of administration. Once the idea of Administration Free Thursday has caught on, Administration Free Tuesdays will be introduced (which annoyingly has the same acronym). With Tuesdays and Thursdays administration free, this effectively means that there can't be two days in a row to do administration. Without continuity, administration will die.
- Who made the rules for AFT, and how can they be changed?
- We did not make the rules. The rules were handed down to us during an epiphany one Thursday afternoon. They can't be changed. We just interpret the rules, aided by the Rabbinical Council.
- I'm an administrator, what should I do on AFT?
- Administration-free Thursdays is not actually about administration. It's about doing the things that you find most fulfilling. For us, that's generally physics, but for you, perhaps it's something else. So, take Thursdays to spend time on that special project you find most rewarding. Regardless of your job, you can introduce free-Thursdays into your workplace!