Through a collaboration between the EPFL Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (QSE) and SCITAS, EPFL has become the first Swiss academic institution to establish a virtual platform offering advanced quantum computing capabilities to its researchers.
Among the many areas of specialization within the domain of quantum science and technology, EPFL researchers play a leading role in quantum algorithms and theoretical quantum computing, which explores how quantum computers can outperform classical systems and what their limitations are.
To give its researchers the possibility to test and refine their theories directly on cutting-edge quantum computer, EPFL has signed an agreement with quantum computing leader Quantinuum. The partnership provides cloud access to their hardware through EPFL's SCITAS high-performance computing (HPC) platform.
"EPFL is pushing the boundaries on quantum algorithms, as evidenced by the fact that it is the first Swiss university to have a direct cloud platform for accessing an advanced quantum computer integrated within our own high-performance computing infrastructure," explains Vincenzo Savona, professor in the School of Basic Sciences and academic director of the EPFL Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (QSE).
The need for state-of-the-art quantum hardware
Developing, operating, and maintaining state-of-the-art quantum hardware requires major financial investment. As a result, even leading academic institutions like EPFL benefit from accessing these devices through agreements with specialized industrial players, such as Quantinuum. "For decades, high-performance classical computing has only been available via remote access to mainframe computers and data centers, and even more so today with the large computational power required by AI models," says Savona.
"Quantinuum's quantum computers are among the most powerful, cleanest, most advanced quantum computers in the world with the lowest level of decoherence, and therefore closest to the ideal quantum computing behavior," says Savona. "They are an indispensable tool for our researchers pursuing cutting edge projects in fields such as quantum algorithms and digital quantum simulation."
"This gives us access to some of the very best quantum hardware currently available to the academic community, opening the door to experiments that go beyond purely theoretical or small-scale numerical studies," adds Giuseppe Carleo, an assistant professor in SB and head of the Computational Quantum Science Laboratory (CQSL).
Pursuing Richard Feynman's dream
To bring access to the Quantinuum quantum computer to EPFL, the QSE Center collaborated with SCITAS to implement access to the remote quantum computer through their exisiting computing platform.
"This collaboration illustrates well the complementarity between a platform like SCITAS, focused on delivering robust, scalable high-performance computing services, and a center such as QSE, which drives transdisciplinary research in quantum computing," says Gilles Fourestey, operational director of SCITAS. "Integrating cloud quantum computing into SCITAS's HPC environment allows users to access remote quantum systems directly from a familiar HPC interface, without managing separate tools or workflows."
Now that the cloud quantum computer has been successfully integrated within EPFL's HPC platform, scientists are already able to propose research projects requiring a quantum computer and pursue Richard Feynman's dream of using a complex quantum system to compute and to simulate the complexities of quantum mechanics.
Carleo plans to explore how this hardware can be used for quantum simulation of complex many-body systems, where high-quality quantum devices may provide genuinely new insights. And Zoë Holmes, assistant professor in SB and head of the Quantum Information and Computing Group at EPFL, will allow her to investigate the utility of certain calculations being run on quantum computers.
"Quantum hardware is reaching the point where it can implement calculations that are at the very least hard, and potentially impossible, to do classically," she says. "But it's not clear whether they can yet be used for usefully hard calculations. This hardware access will give us a way to investigate that."
Making quantum computing accessible to students
The QSE Center, along with members of the EPFL Master's program in Quantum Science and Engineering, are studying the best model to also make this resource available to students across campus who are studying topics in the quantum computing field.
"The opportunity to access Quantinuum's advanced quantum computing platforms will provide our QSE master's students with hands-on experience with state-of-the-art quantum hardware and software tools," says Nicolas Macris, a professor at IC who co-directs the master's program. "As the technology is progressing at a fast pace, it is increasingly important for our students to develop practical skills and explore real quantum workflows."
"The reason why EPFL is a world leading university for nuclear engineering is because we have a nuclear reactor on campus for training," adds Savona. "So offering students access to train on a real quantum computer will bring that same level of real-world training excellence to quantum computing."
How do Quantinuum's quantum computers work?
Quantum computers use qubits, which are the quantum equivalent of classical bits: instead of being just a zero or a one like a classical bit, a qubit exists in a superposition of both states at once. To do useful computations, qubits also need to be entangled, a property that lets their states become linked so that operations on one affect the others.
Quantinuum's quantum computers use trapped ions, which are electrically charged atoms. These ions are held above a chip using electromagnetic forces and controlled with lasers. They are moved around to bring specific qubits close together when entanglement is needed, then separated again, allowing precise operations and low error rates.
