A quantum computer has been connected to Europe’s fastest supercomputer. It may be a step towards a new type of computing that combines traditional and quantum computers to quickly solve complex problems.
The promise of quantum computers is that they will eventually complete calculations that are impossible for the most powerful conventional computers. Though many researchers are working on perfecting quantum computers, many are also suggesting that existing, imperfect quantum computers could be more useful if connected to traditional supercomputers.
They could be tasked with completing only some parts of a computation, those that they are best suited for, while the supercomputer handles the rest, says at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
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Kotovirta and his colleagues have connected Finland’s first quantum computer – Helmi – to not just any supercomputer, but to LUMI (Large Unified Modern Infrastructure), the third fastest supercomputer in the world and fastest in Europe. The team discussed this project at the on 30 November in Washington DC.
Helmi is a superconducting quantum computer, which means that it, like quantum computers made by IBM and Google, processes information using tiny circuits made of wires that conduct electricity without losing energy. As of November 2022, researchers can access Helmi by submitting a program to LUMI – they can ask the supercomputer to tell the quantum computer what to do, and then use or report its output.
Though Helmi has only 5 qubits – meaning it is about 86 times smaller than the largest superconducting quantum computer – it could still help researchers find the best ways to use conventional and quantum computers simultaneously, says Kotovirta. He says that there are currently many open questions on how a computation should be divided between a quantum and a traditional computer to use both most efficiently.
Kotovirta’s team is working on making Helmi ten times larger in the next few years, but even teams that already have large quantum computers are embracing the hybrid approach. For instance, at the in New York City on 9 November, IBM’s director of research Dario Gil announced a future focus on “quantum-centric supercomputing” and building data centres where quantum and classical supercomputers work side by side.
