Birds of a Feather

System Software for Quantum Accelerated HPC

Authors: Laura Schulz (Leibniz Supercomputing Centre), Martin Schulz (Technical University Munich, Computer Architecture and Parallel Systems; Leibniz Supercomputing Centre), Sven Karlsson (Technical University of Denmark)

Abstract: As Quantum Computing, QC, systems mature and make their way out of laboratories into HPC centers as accelerators, we also must rethink the role of system software. We require stable software environments targeted at broad, non-physics end-user communities that are directly integrated into HPC system software as well as HPC schedulers. In this BoF, we will highlight recent developments relating to first QC system installations in HPC centers and discuss open questions and challenges. We aim to establish an international discussion on this emerging, critical issue and to help clear the road for the next steps towards efficient quantum acceleration.

Long Description: As Quantum Computing, QC, systems mature and make their way out of laboratories into HPC centers as accelerators, we also must rethink the role of system software and how it supports both users and system developers/operators. We require stable software environments targeted at broad, non-physics end-user communities and that are directly integrated into HPC system software as well as HPC schedulers. Further, the operation of the QC systems must be automatic to enable hosting in compute centers, which also includes new approaches for user management, accounting and monitoring. This is no longer a quantum physics problem; this must be driven by the HPC community.

With the EuroHPC JU’s decision to award six compute centers in Europe contracts to host quantum accelerators to be sited in the next 1-2 years and with the procurements for these systems currently underway, the need for such a software environment has intensified and has become urgent. This has led to several workshops among European centers as well as international researchers, the EQS3 (European Quantum System Software Summit) series, in which the participants have discussed challenges and solutions to efficiently and reliable offer quantum accelerated HPC. While initiated in Europe, the workshops have also attracted non-European interest and attendance, forming a targeted, yet, global forum for this topic.

In this BoF, we will highlight the results from these workshops and discuss some of the immediate conclusions, as well as the consequences for the currently pursued procurements. Additionally, we will augment this with additional perspectives from other partners and other regions of the world working on similar goals. We aim for this BoF to broaden the scope of the discussions, get input from a wide community and to establish an international discussion on this emerging, critical issue. The results from the BoF will be summarized and made available on the HPCQC website (www.hpcqc.org), which is run by the three organizers from TUM, LRZ and DTU, and will help further drive the development in this area within the European centers as well as world-wide. Our goal is help clear the road for the next steps towards efficient quantum acceleration, to establish new collaborations and to identify critical issues and challenges that the HPC-QC community needs to solve.

Website: https://www.hpcqc.org/home