Quantum finance?

The Business School and the Institut quantique (IQ) are teaming up to explore the possibilities of putting quantum information to work in finance.

Data is the raw material of finance, and processing that data enables better decisions. This explains why the field is among those that are following with great interest the progress of quantum information.

Applications of quantum information to finance could be used, for example, to refine and accelerate analytical capability and improve prediction and fraud detection. Better, more efficient tools could allow for more effective responses to market fluctuations, increasing potential profits and limiting losses. It would also be possible to estimate as precisely as possible the optimal moment to proceed with an investment, or to offer a better vision of a time horizon to allocate an investment. In short, all these decisions require long and complex calculations.

Recently, Professors Pierre-Martin Tardif and Alain Bélanger initiated contact with Ghislain Lefebvre, IBMQ’s partnership development manager at IQ, on the possibility of setting up a reading group that would identify, in the scientific literature, various applications of quantum information in finance.

“Our team of quantum information programmers is working with our industrial partners and also with various research groups at UdeS to facilitate the adoption and learning of this new type of programming,” explains Ghislain Lefebvre.

A first introduction workshop will take place on November 10^th and will be led by Maxime Dion, a quantum computing developer. This workshop will aim to introduce the reading group to quantum information, starting with an explanation of what a quantum computer is, and covering the first notions of this type of programming.

For Professor Tardif, from the Department of Information Systems and Quantitative Management Methods, the time is right to learn about quantum programming and test its applications: “In order to further explore the shared potential of these two fields, reading groups will be set up. At regular intervals, the group will review scientific papers relevant to the applications of quantum information in quantitative management methods and attempt to identify avenues of research in the field.”

“We don’t intend to stop at this point, it’s a universe of possibilities that is opening up, and we want to make sure that the faculty and student community know more about it,” adds Professor Alain Bélanger. It’s our duty to constantly be on the lookout for advances in our field, and that’s what we’re aiming for in this collaboration with IQ.”

Who knows where this collaboration between the Business School and IQ will lead!

To participate in the introductory workshop, meet on Wednesday, November 10 at 9:00 a.m. in room K1-2008 of the Business School.