2021年经济学人 华尔街新宠--量子计算(2)

Finance is not the only industry looking for a way to profit from even the small, unstable¹ quantum computers that mark the current state of the art; sectors² from aerospace³ to pharmaceuticals⁴ are also hunting for a "quantum advantage". But there are reasons to think finance may be among the first to find it. Mike Biercuk of Q-CTRL, a startup that makes control software for quantum computers, points out that a new financial algorithm can be deployed⁵ faster than a new industrial process. The size of financial markets means that even a small advance would be worth a lot of money.

当前最先进的量子计算机规模小且不稳定，即便如此，试图利用它获利的行业并不局限在金融业，从航空航天到制药等众多行业都在寻求“量子优势”，只不过我们有理由认为金融业是会捷足先登的行业之一。Q-CTRL是一家为量子计算机开发控制软件的创业公司，其创始人迈克比埃库克指出，部署一种新的金融算法可能比部署新的工业流程要快。金融市场的规模如此庞大，就算小小的进步也会价值千金。

Banks are also buying in expertise⁶. Firms including BBVA, Citigroup, JPMorgan and Standard Chartered have set up research teams and signed deals with computing⁷ firms. The Boston Consulting Group reckons that, as of June, banks and insurers in America and Europe had hired more than 115 experts—a big number for what remains⁸, even in academia, a small specialism. "We have more physics and maths PhDs than some big universities," jokes Alexei Kondratyev, head of data analytics at Standard Chartered.

银行也在为专业技术掏腰包。包括西班牙对外银行、花旗集团、摩根大通和渣打银行在内的许多公司已经成立了研究团队，并和计算公司签署了协议。据波士顿咨询集团估计，欧美的银行和保险公司截至6月已经聘请了超过115名专家——鉴于量子研究即使在学术界也仍属小众，这个数字可谓相当惊人了。渣打银行的数据分析负责人阿列克谢康德拉特耶夫打趣道：“我们这里的物理博士和数学博士比一些大型大学还要多。

Startups are exploring possibilities too. Enrique Lizaso of Multiverse Computing reckons his firm's quantum-enhanced algorithms can spot fraud more effectively, and around a hundred times faster, than existing ones. The firm has also experimented with portfolio⁹ optimisation, in which analysts¹⁰ seek well-performing investment strategies. Multiverse re-ran decisions made by real traders at a bank. The job was to choose, over the course of a year, the most profitable mix from a group of 50 assets, subject to restrictions¹¹, such as how often trades could be made.

创业公司也在试水。平行宇宙计算公司的恩里克·利萨索认为其公司利用经量子增强的算法可以更有效地甄别欺诈，速度比现有算法快了约100倍。该公司还测试了投资组合优化，即让分析师寻求表现优异的投资策略。它重演了由一家银行的真实交易员所做的决策。这项工作要求在交易频率等限制条件下，于一年时间内从50项资产中选择盈利能力最强的组合。

The result was a problem with around 101,300 possible solutions, a number that far outstrips¹² the number of atoms in the visible universe. In reality, the bank's traders, assisted by models running on classical computers, managed an annual return of 19%. Depending on the amount of volatility¹³ investors¹⁴ were prepared to put up with, Multiverse's algorithm generated returns of 20-80%—though it stops short of claiming a definitive¹⁵ quantum advantage.

这样就产生了一个约有10^1300个可能解的问题，这个数字远远超过了可见宇宙中的原子数量。现实中该银行交易员在经典计算机上运行的模型的辅助下实现了19％的年回报率，而平行宇宙公司的算法在还没有发挥绝对的量子优势的前提下，根据投资者愿意承受的波动程度的不同产生了20％到80％的不等回报。

Not all potential uses are so glamorous¹⁶. Monte Carlo simulations are often used in regulatory stress tests. Christopher Savoie of Zapata, a quantum-computing firm based in Boston, recalls one bank executive telling him: "Don't bring me trading algorithms, bring me a solution to CCAR (an American stress-test regulation). That stuff eats up half my computing budget."

并非所有的潜在应用都令人如此着迷。蒙特卡罗模拟常用于监管压力测试。克里斯多夫·萨瓦来自一家总部位于波士顿的量子计算公司Zapata，他记得一位银行高管曾对他说：“不用给我交易算法，能想办法让我通过CCAR（美国一项压力测试法规）就行。这玩意儿吃掉了我一半的计算预算。”

1 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

2 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

4 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

6 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

7 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

11 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

12 outstrips   

v.做得比…更好，（在赛跑等中）超过( outstrip的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Technology daily outstrips the ability of our institutions to cope with its fruits. 技术发展的速度超过了我们的制度所能应付其成果的程度。 来自辞典例句
• The significance of the foreign exchange market outstrips its impressive size. 外汇市场的意义超出了它给人的印象尺度。 来自互联网

13 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

14 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

15 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

16 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。