Prospects for the Integration and Development of Quantum and Supercomputing

Tech 2023-06-01 08:30:10 Source: Network

Our reporter in Germany, Li ShanThe Leibniz Computing Center (LRZ) of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, located near Munich, is one of the most famous supercomputing centers in Germany. As an important component of the German Gaussian Supercomputing Center, LRZ collaborated with Lenovo and Intel to develop the supercomputer SuperMUC-NG, which ranked 9th on the 2019 Global High Performance Computing TOP500 list

Our reporter in Germany, Li Shan

The Leibniz Computing Center (LRZ) of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, located near Munich, is one of the most famous supercomputing centers in Germany. As an important component of the German Gaussian Supercomputing Center, LRZ collaborated with Lenovo and Intel to develop the supercomputer SuperMUC-NG, which ranked 9th on the 2019 Global High Performance Computing TOP500 list. Now, LRZ is committed to using quantum processors as accelerators for supercomputing, promoting the development of cutting-edge quantum classical hybrid computing architectures.

Recently, a reporter from Science and Technology Daily was invited to visit the Leibniz Computing Center.

Supercomputing provides strong support for scientific research

Since its establishment for 61 years, LRZ has always been committed to providing high-performance computing resources to scientific research and academic professionals in Germany and even the European continent, "Professor Helmut Lesser, Deputy Director of the Leibniz Computing Center, told reporters. LRZ is a central IT service provider for local universities and research institutions in Munich, particularly the Technical University of Munich and the University of Munich, serving 120000 university students, over 27000 employees, and over 1900 professors.

Lasser said that LRZ can provide users with scientific research support across various complex fields such as astrophysics, fluid mechanics and life science. Its services include high-performance computing, virtual reality and visualization, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and big data. LRZ is proud of its research achievements, including completing simulations of the massive Sumatra earthquake and tsunami. As a member of the European Advanced Computing Partnership, its mission is not only to manage exponential massive data, but also to quickly process and analyze data, accelerating the progress of scientific research.

Taking LRZ's distinctive virtual reality and visualization center as an example. 3DPowerwall with a resolution exceeding 8.2 million pixels can be used for analyzing complex models; The 5-sided projection of CAVE can simulate the environment and create a virtual space with 3D models, where users can achieve complete immersion. According to Laiser, in the past 10 years, the center has completed about 150 related projects, including exploring how turbulence shapes interstellar medium to help the formation of stars and planets; Simulation of blood flow in human arteries and veins; And the application of virtual reality in Bavarian geological history or hydrology.

Lenovo Brings High Temperature Water Cooling Technology

During the process of leading reporters to visit important facilities such as LRZ supercomputers, Laiser further introduced the situation of the supercomputing system SuperMUC-NG. In 2017, Lenovo collaborated with Intel to deliver a supercomputing system with 311040 cores to LRZ, providing powerful computing power with a measured peak of 19.5PFlop/s. Starting from 2021, the three parties will continue to carry out the second phase of cooperation. LRZ has chosen Lenovo NeXtScaleSystemM5 high-density server with water-cooling technology, equipped with 3072 Lenovo NeXtScalenx360M5WCT computing nodes. It is expected that the performance of the computing nodes in the second stage will reach four times that of the first stage.

Speaking of LRZ's future development, Laiser said, "LRZ is currently preparing for the next supercomputer. The new system will be created through innovative partnerships. Lenovo has become one of the two selected companies." LRZ plans to launch the ultra large scale system ExaMUC, which is 5-10 times more powerful than SuperMUC-NG, within the next 10 years. The two companies initially selected are working with LRZ to develop and optimize prototypes. By the end of 2023, which company will finally build the next supercomputer for LRZ and settle the dust. In addition to international environment and energy conservation, the advantages of combining quantum computing and artificial intelligence may also be important considerations for LRZ.

Developing Quantum Classical Hybrid Computing Architecture

Lesser said: "Current quantum computer are suitable for solving very specific types of problems. However, they are not suitable for all problems. The solution is to integrate quantum computer into supercomputers and automatically judge whether these problems are suitable for using quantum computer. If they are suitable, send these problems to quantum computer; if not, send them to classic supercomputers. That is to say, the long-term goal is Use the quantum computer as the acceleration component of the supercomputer. " In addition, the hybrid computing architecture of quantum and classical still has the potential to solve the problems of noise and decoherence that still exist in quantum processors. Through cloud services, supercomputing centers can also better provide users with quantum computing services.

After the establishment of the Quantum Integration Center in 2021, LRZ successively obtained quantum learning machines provided by Atos company, as well as the first three quantum processors and a cooling device provided by IQM company in Finland. LRZ plans to first implement a digital analog quantum computer, then integrate a 20 qubit quantum computer into the next generation supercomputer, and increase the size of the quantum processor running in it to 100 qubits by 2026. Laiser said: "At present, we do not have 20 qubit quantum computer, but some are 5 qubit quantum computer. We will continue to build 20 qubits, 50 qubits, and then 100 qubits quantum computer. In terms of software, we are currently simplifying and optimizing the quantum programming framework software."

As for when such a coupling system can be used? Leyser said frankly, "It's hard to say. Optimists believe it can happen in five years. But I don't think it will happen in the next five years. I think quantum computer can be automatically integrated into supercomputers in 15 to 20 years." Once quantum computer can be controlled by supercomputers, it will take an important step towards practicality, and can build and configure additional components or software. LRZ and its research partners look forward to the next major leap in supercomputing.

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