In order to create a federated European infrastructure enabling the integration of quantum technologies with supercomputers, EuroHPC JU and six consortia have initiated the EuroQHPC-Integration project. Launched today at the occasion of the EuroHPC Summit in Krakow, this project aims to harmonize the user experience, develop common applications and benchmarks, draw up and use common standards and provide shared user support.
In 2023, the EuroHPC JU signed hosting agreements with six sites across Europe to host and operate its quantum computers. These devices will allow European users to explore a variety of quantum technologies coupled to leading supercomputers.
All six procurements for the EuroHPC quantum computers have now been successfully completed. A news step towards a European hybrid HPC-QC infrastructure is now reached. Indeed, it’s time for the community to advance towards the integration of these devices with the respective supercomputers, for the benefit of the European open research community.
The six Hosting Entities and their respective partners have formed a joint and collaborative project called EuroQHPC-Integration, in which they decided to pool their efforts on 4 main topics:
- The harmonization of the user experience across all six hybrid HPC-QC platforms;
- Joint development of proof-of-concept applications and benchmarks running on the various hybrid HPC-QC systems;
- Contribution to standardization efforts;
- Joint Technical Support Team for applications and use cases.
This project, coordinated by GENCI, brings together 30 partners, spread across 17 European countries, and relies on 6 quantum computers with various architectures (neutral atoms, superconducting qubits with different topologies, quantum annealing, photonics, trapped ions) that will be coupled with 6 European supercomputers forming an unprecedented hybrid HPC/QC infrastructure.
The project kick-off meeting is taking place on the occasion of the EuroHPC Summit in Krakow, on March 19th, 9:00-12:00, gathering most partners on-site and in visio-conference.
Quotes
“EuroQCS France is very proud to be responsible for coordinating this project. Indeed, EuroQHPC Integration is a European project based on EuroHPC’s quantum infrastructures. The project’s richness lies in the variety of technologies and the different approaches taken by the partners. This initiative, which is unique in the European and even international ecosystem, aims to federate and pool the expertise and feedback of hosting entities in HPCQC integration. The ultimate aim is to have common environments and services, based in particular on the EuroHPC federation platform. EuroQHPC integration aims to roll out a whole range of services and joint initiatives, including facilitating access to users’ machines, cross-testing and joint benchmarks, sharing best practices and user support” declared Sabine Mehr, Head of Quantum Computing at GENCI.
EuroQCS Exa
“Italy strongly believes in neutral atom technology, particularly for its potential applications and scalability,” said Daniele Ottaviani, head of quantum computing at Cineca and lead of WP6-EuroQCS-Italy. “As part of the EuroQHPC-Integration project, the EuroQCS-Italy consortium will focus on developing the full integration stack, from middleware to software and hybrid quantum-classical algorithms. Together with our partners, we will ensure seamless interoperability across quantum and classical systems, implementing our solutions across the quantum platforms of all EuroQHPC-Integration partners.”
“We are excited to have a quantum computer with this unique topology. This architecture will significantly improve the efficiency of quantum computations. The star topology offers optimal connections between qubits, minimising the count of hardware-imposed MOVE/SWAP operations. Thanks to this topology, we can better utilise the coherence time and execute deeper quantum circuits in a wide range of applications, from artificial intelligence to complex system simulations,” said Branislav Jansik, Supercomputing Services Director at IT4Innovations.
EuroQCS Poland
“EuroQCS-Poland focuses on integrating the trapped-ion quantum computer PIAST-Q with the PSNC supercomputing infrastructure, ensuring seamless connectivity between quantum and HPC hardware components. As part of the EuroQHPC-Integration project, we will contribute application-specific integrations to optimize hybrid quantum-HPC workflows, including open-source HPC-QC libraries, tools, multi-user programming environments, and low-level hardware HPC-QC experimental integration.”, said Krzysztof Kurowski, Coordinator of the EuroQCS-Poland consortium.
“Within the EuroQHPC-Integration project, the EuroQCS-Spain consortium will evolve the open-source task programming language PyCOMPSs to support the development of hybrid quantum-classical workflows. We have the experimental quantum computing expertise from the IFAE team that will help us in developing proper benchmarking techniques for these computers. Together with the INL, we will develop novel hybrid quantum algorithms and their applications, and put our results in practice by implementing them into the quantum computers from all EuroQHPC-Integration partners” – Alba Cervera Lierta, senior researcher at the BSC and coordinator of the WP5-EuroQCS Spain.
EuroQCS-Poland will be responsible for a digital, gate-based quantum computer based on trapped ions, offering 20-plus physical qubits. Owned by the EuroHPC JU, the system will be hosted at the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC) in Poland and integrated into the local high-performance computing infrastructure, allowing for remote access via the co-located supercomputer connected to the PIONIER NREN.
As part of the EuroQHPC-Integration project, PSNC will lead the EuroQCS-Poland consortium, which includes two additional Polish partners—the Center for Theoretical Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Creotech Instruments S.A.—as well as one academic partner from Latvia, the University of Latvia.
PSNC is at the forefront of the EuroQCS-Poland initiative, overseeing the full integration of hardware and software development while providing comprehensive application and user support to ensure seamless operations of the hybrid classical-quantum computing infrastructure. The Center for Theoretical Physics PAS will play a critical role in developing techniques for efficient characterization and error mitigation tailored to the trapped-ion quantum system, enhancing the accuracy and reliability of quantum operations.
Creotech Instruments will develop an advanced subsystem to mitigate errors and enhance quantum computing performance, with a focus on low-latency classical-quantum hardware integration—an essential factor for high-performance quantum computing. Meanwhile, the University of Latvia, renowned for its pioneering work in quantum walks and algorithm design, will focus on developing and testing new quantum algorithms. Their expertise in quantum lower bounds will be instrumental in optimizing quantum computations.
