  For many implementations of quantum computing, 1/f and other types of
broad-spectrum noise are an important source of decoherence. An important step
forward would be the ability to back out the characteristics of this noise from
qubit measurements and to see if it leads to new physical effects. For certain
types of qubits, the working point of the qubit can be varied. Using a new
mathematical method that is suited to treat all working points, we present
theoretical results that show how this degree of freedom can be used to extract
noise parameters and to predict a new effect: noise-induced looping on the
Bloch sphere. We analyze data on superconducting qubits to show that they are
very near the parameter regime where this looping should be observed.
