Periodic Reporting for period 1 - QCDC (Quantum Computers for Data Centers)
Période du rapport: 2023-04-01 au 2024-03-31
Classical computers have hardly gotten any faster in the last 15 years, we solely increased the number of processors we distribute tasks over. This stop in speed has had a severe impact on research and application areas ranging from physics to chemistry, via logistics and optimization, to material design and finance. However, quantum computers present a new computation paradigm that enable computations beyond the capabilities of classical computers. The new computing approach promises to create solutions for reduced global power consumption, thus fighting climate change, and designing better materials and personalized drugs, thus improving the overall life quality and patient outcomes. Quantum computers may provide a better understanding of superconductivity and realise such materials operating at room temperature - changing the entire electronics market from smartphones to electric cars.
Realizing these promises of quantum computing are not easy. Current devices are in an early development stage, in which it is hard to operate and access them. The small number of existing devices further limits the development speed in this promising field. The project QCDC addresses this limited availability of quantum computing resources. The project develops an integrated service that allows researchers, innovators and businesses to access and run their quantum programs on universal quantum computing processors. The cloud solution serves as an interface between the user and real quantum computing hardware. The new service significantly simplifies access to quantum computing by adapting the hardware programming paradigms at a low level to higher-level software development kits. Furthermore, the underlying quantum hardware benefits from continuous robustness and reliability improvements, resulting in higher uptimes and less maintenance overheads. In combination with the programming language frameworks, the computing stack enables user-friendly exploitation of real quantum computers that conforms to the best industry practices.
Realizing these promises of quantum computing are not easy. Current devices are in an early development stage, in which it is hard to operate and access them. The small number of existing devices further limits the development speed in this promising field. The project QCDC addresses this limited availability of quantum computing resources. The project develops an integrated service that allows researchers, innovators and businesses to access and run their quantum programs on universal quantum computing processors. The cloud solution serves as an interface between the user and real quantum computing hardware. The new service significantly simplifies access to quantum computing by adapting the hardware programming paradigms at a low level to higher-level software development kits. Furthermore, the underlying quantum hardware benefits from continuous robustness and reliability improvements, resulting in higher uptimes and less maintenance overheads. In combination with the programming language frameworks, the computing stack enables user-friendly exploitation of real quantum computers that conforms to the best industry practices.
A prototype cloud service enabling access to AQT’s quantum computers over the internet was implemented and used in an alpha testing of the technology stack covering quantum computing hardware, cloud service, and applications. The stack was verified by alpha users from academic and industrial research groups. The work covers proof-of-concept demonstrations of several use cases which are published either as brief whitepapers on the company’s web page, or in peer-review journals. These include molecule structure calculations, biochemistry process prediction, and factory floor optimization. Two new partnerships have been established with Quanscient, Finland, and T-Systems, Germany, to jointly work on solutions in Multiphysics simulation and cloud systems integration, respectively, exploiting the potential of quantum computing.
The project resulted in the first cloud service in Europe that made a universal quantum computer based on trapped ions in the 19-inch industry standard available for use over the internet. In combination with the best demonstrated quantum volume on a European device, this solution stack is unique in Europe, and within the 3 best performing worldwide.