QCSC Quantum Centric Supercomputing by IBM & DOE centers
IBM collaborates with four national quantum innovation centres to advance quantum-centric supercomputing.
IBM will collaborate with four National Quantum Information Science Research Centres (NQISRCs) to boost US quantum computing leadership. This partnership follows the US Department of Energy (DoE)'s announcement today to fund the NQISRCs.
The 2018 National Quantum Initiative Act allowed the DoE to spend $625 million on five quantum information science centres to boost quantum computing research. IBM belongs to four government funded NQISRCs.
Visualising Quantum-Centric Supercomputing IBM is working with the centres to implement quantum-centric supercomputing (QCSC).
QCSC uses CPUs, GPUs, and QPUs in a tightly-coupled architecture to optimise beyond what any single technology can do. Creating a quantum-centric supercomputer requires building a scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computer and establishing the software and infrastructure to integrate quantum into the QCSC computational fabric.
To realise the full potential of quantum technology, QCSC must be unified with quantum sensing and quantum communication. Integrating these pillars may enable a quantum computing internet with multiple quantum processors.
Two Key Exploration Areas
IBM and the four NQISRCs are researching algorithm generation for scientific computing and other practical uses and scaling towards a quantum computing internet to achieve this goal.
Prepare for quantum computing's internet To solve this problem, a unified architecture that seamlessly links processing, communication, and sensing is needed. Initial proof that quantum computing networks are expandable at the metre scale inside a datacenter is crucial.
IBM and SQMS are studying physically connected, deconstructed, and cryogenically preserved IBM quantum computers. IBM is negotiating with Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory's Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Centre. SQMS by Fermilab is a global leader in high-quality, scalable microwave cavities and transmission lines.
IBM is launching a Quantum Networking Unit (QNU) to link its quantum computers for extendable microwave-based connection prototyping and research to assist this investigation. The proposed SQMS investigation aims to entangle two IBM quantum computers in cryogenic facilities. In five years, a microwave-based quantum network would connect these devices, demonstrating an integrated data centre.
SQMS will be used by IBM to study quantum workforce development, quantum computing applications for fundamental physics, quantum interconnects, superconducting qubit noise sources, and large-scale cryogenics.
IBM will collaborate with Q-NEXT in Argonne to study future connections between networked quantum computers. This alliance would use optical cables to establish quantum networks with IBM QNUs. An effective microwave-optic transducer, a nonlinear optical device that can transfer microwave photon frequency to the optical domain at a single-photon level, is a critical technological gap being closed. Q-NEXT, which covers hundreds of meters to kilometres, could enable longer lengths than the proposed SQMS program.
Investigating quantum computing methods and applications As quantum computers evolve, algorithm discovery is changing. It's time to confirm when quantum computers can outperform traditional methods and test heuristic algorithms in real life. Classical and quantum computers will be used to solve issues in innovative ways.
QSC partnership: IBM will emphasise algorithms and applications at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Quantum Science Centre. IBM and QSC want to extend quantum-advantaged use cases and find those with quantum usefulness that exceeds brute-force classical approaches.
New quantum algorithms and advanced error mitigation and correction mechanisms must be implemented to boost quantum computer computing power. The teams are also developing hierarchical quantum error correction decoder algorithms for the next generation of fault-tolerant quantum computers to ensure that quantum technology and high-performance computing coexist in the QCSC architecture. This project enhances the QSC's goal of using quantum computing to study uncommon materials.
IBM also wants to work with Brookhaven National Lab's Co-design Centre for Quantum Advantage on condensed matter and high-energy physics applications. The goal is to create quantum circuits and test physical science questions on hardware.
IBM applauds the DoE for supporting these essential centres as the US pursues quantum-centric supercomputing and maintains its global leadership in quantum computing. IBM expects this continued funding will expedite quantum computing development and create a US quantum computing ecosystem.
