Europe’s first exascalar supercomputer has just broken a world record in quantum computing, simulating for the first time a complete universal quantum computer of 50 qubits. This feat pushes classical computing to its physical limits and marks a milestone in algorithm development long before mature quantum machines arrive.
This advance is the work of scientists at the Jülich Supercomputing Center (JSC), in collaboration with specialists from NVIDIA. The record surpasses the previous mark of 48 qubits, too established by the same center, and demonstrates the immense capabilities of the new JUPITER system, inaugurated in September.
Quantum computer simulations serve as a test bed for future quantum technologies and allow scientists to explore molecular modeling methods such as the Variational Quantum Eigenvalue Solver (VQE) and optimization approaches such as the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA), long before quantum processors can reliably run them.
However, simulating quantum circuits on classical machines is extremely difficult. Each additional qubit doubles the memory and computing requirementsresulting in exponential growth that quickly surpasses the capabilities of even the most advanced hardware.
Quantum computers fundamentally differ from classical computers in their information processing. Conventional ones use binary bits, which are 0 or 1, while quantum ones use quantum bits or qubits, which can exist in multiple states simultaneously thanks to the principles of superposition and entanglement. This ability to process multiple possibilities at once is what gives them their incredible speed and computational power.
For example, while classical computers perform tasks sequentially, quantum computers can perform many calculations in parallel. Therefore, quantum systems have the potential to solve certain problems much faster than classical computers.
One of the most significant advantages of quantum supercomputers is their ability to process an exponentially greater amount of information. On certain types of problems, a quantum computer could theoretically outperform the fastest classical supercomputers by orders of magnitude: what a quantum computer It takes less than 10 minutes, the fastest supercomputer today would need 5,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years.
“Currently, only the largest supercomputers in the world offer that capability,” explains Kristel Michielsen, author of the study published in Arxiv -. This case study “illustrates the close interrelationship that exists today between progress in high-performance computing and quantum research.”
In the JUQCS-50 quantum computer, each quantum gate affects more than 2 quadrillion complex numbersall synchronized across thousands of compute nodes. This scale made previous simulations virtually impossible.
The JUQCS-50 takes advantage of the hybrid memory architecture of NVIDIA GH200 superchips, temporarily transferring data from the GPU to the CPU memory with minimal performance loss. At the same time, a new byte-encoding compression method reduces memory demand by a factor of eight, while a dynamic algorithm continuously optimizes data transfer between more than 16,000 superchips during simulation.
“With JUQCS-50, we can “emulate universal quantum supercomputers with high fidelity and address problems that no current quantum processor can solve.”adds Hans De Raedt, co-author of the study.
JUQCS-50 is expected to serve as much as research engine as a reference for next generation supercomputers.