The AC Josephson effect is . Since the imposed flux is held fixed when defining a small-signal inductance, differentiate c to obtain
On the stable small-current branch with , and the result reduces to the printed expression,
The stable small-signal inductance of a symmetric DC SQUID requires , stronger than near a half-integer flux quantum. If , the stable zero-current phase is and . Its inductance is positive:
For example, makes the printed signed formula negative when expanded about , but that phase is an energy maximum. Expanding about the stable corrects the sign. At ideal half-integer flux the critical current vanishes and the linear inductance formally diverges; a finite transport current cannot satisfy the small-current approximation there. Geometric inductance and other nonidealities then have to be retained instead of extending the simple formula through its pole.