Nvidia revealed plans to boost quantum computing efforts at global supercomputing hubs through its open-source Nvidia Cuda-Q platform.
The initiative will see supercomputing facilities in Germany, Japan, and Poland leveraging the Cuda-Q platform to drive their quantum processing units (QPUs) within Nvidia-accelerated high-performance computing systems.
Quantum computers, powered by QPUs, utilize the behavior of particles like electrons or photons to compute differently from traditional processors, potentially accelerating specific calculations.
“Useful quantum computing will be enabled by the tight integration of quantum with GPU supercomputing,” said Tim Costa, director of quantum and HPC at Nvidia. “Nvidia’s quantum computing platform equips pioneers such as AIST, JSC and PSNC to push the boundaries of scientific discovery and advance the state of the art in quantum-integrated supercomputing.”
In Germany, the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) is integrating a QPU provided by IQM Quantum Computers alongside its Jupiter supercomputer, powered by Nvidia GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip.
AIST’s Rubidium-based qubits
Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) is enhancing its ABCI-Q supercomputer, employing Nvidia Hopper architecture and a QPU from QuEra to advance the country’s quantum computing initiative.
Poland’s Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC) recently incorporated two photonic QPUs from Orca Computing into a new supercomputer partition, accelerated by Nvidia Hopper.
Tim Costa, Nvidia’s director of quantum and HPC, emphasized the necessity of integrating quantum with GPU supercomputing for effective quantum computing, enabling pioneers like AIST, JSC, and PSNC to advance scientific discovery.
Each facility’s QPU presents unique opportunities. AIST’s Rubidium-based qubits aim to explore quantum applications in AI, energy, and biology, while PSNC’s photonics systems will delve into biology, chemistry, and machine learning.
The collaboration between ORCA, Nvidia, and PSNC has yielded a hybrid system facilitating the integration of multiple QPUs and GPUs, vital for developers and users alike, according to Krzysztof Kurowski, PSNC’s CTO.
At JSC, the integration of QPU with JUPITER will drive advancements in quantum computing, chemistry, and material science, according to Kristel Michielsen, head of the quantum information processing group.
Cuda-Q, an open-source and QPU-agnostic platform, tightly integrates quantum computers with supercomputers, enabling quantum computing with AI to address challenges such as noisy qubits and algorithm efficiency.