HPC-QC technologies recommended to be combined in future!

ETP4HPC recently organized a conference on emerging technologies for HPC in Europe.

Quantum computing promises to solve some of our toughest problems. They can be across fields such as drug design, materials design, supply chain logistics, energy grid management, human-brain function or neural networks, traffic optimization, and vegetation emulation and climate change.

The goals include establishing a pan-European federated hybrid HPC – quantum computer and simulator (QCS) infrastructure, with uniform, easy, and affordable access for European scientific and industrial users. We can also make various different QCS resources publicly available with support and services.

There are analog and digital quantum computers in HPC centers. Users can acquire expertise and contribute to the co-design feedback loop. We forsee the HPC-QC integration, with the best of both computer technologies getting combined. There can be integration of QCS in HPC systems. Integration of QCS in HPC systems, application-centric benchmarking, and emulation of QCS with HPC systems.

Emulation of QCS with HPC systems is happening with development of software to validate designs of quantum processors. We will investigate the performance of quantum algorithms. A new emulator has been developed, called JUQCS or Jülich Universal Quantum Computer Simulator, a state-vector emulator.

QAOA is variational and hybrid quantum algorithm. Quantum algorithm can iteratively apply a series of parametrized unitary transformations to a quantum register, and evaluate its energy expectation value. Classical optimization algorithm can optimize the parameters of the unitary transformations.

There is an EU federated hybrid HPC-QC infrastructure. EuroQCS is in Poznan, Poland, HPCQS and EuroQCS are in Paris, France, and Jülich, the latter also having JUNIQ, LUMI-Q is in Ostrava, Czech Republic, Euro-Q-Exa is in Munich, Germany, and EuroQCS is in Bologna, Italy, and Barcelona, Spain, respectively.

A first-of-a-kind in the world, they are developing and providing HPC-QC services for the benefit of all Europeans, providing uniform, easy and affordable access to HPC-QC resources, and training specialists in QC and potential applications. A federated HPC-QCS infrastructure should be ready by 2027.

The speakers were Prof. Dr. Estela Suarez, Research Group Leader, Jülich Supercomputing Centre, and Prof. Dr. Kristel Michielsen, Group Leader, Research Group, Quantum Information Processing, Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Germany.