MAY 13 2024 -- ORCA Computing and Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC), an internationally renowned research and development supercomputing center, today announced a collaboration with NVIDIA, to accelerate the development of hybrid quantum-classical approaches.  Recognizing the necessity of hybrid computing to unlock the full potential of quantum computing, by utilizing real-world, hands-on use cases, this collaboration represents a milestone in revolutionizing various fields such as biology, chemistry, and key industry applications.

“In response to the evolving computational landscape, PSNC has actively engaged in tackling quantum challenges within research and IT sectors,” said Krzysztof Kurowski, Deputy Director and CTO of PSNC. “This collaboration presents an exceptional opportunity to accelerate hybrid application development and unlocks new computational possibilities.” Kurowski continued, “the hybrid integration of quantum computing and GPU technologies holds the promise of unlocking even more efficient and effective AI-based approaches for knowledge discovery processes.”

The collaboration brings together the collective expertise of PSNC, ORCA, and NVIDIA to push the boundaries of hybrid quantum-classical high-performance computing (HPC). Leveraging PSNC’s robust infrastructure and high-performance computing prowess, along with ORCA’s expertise in quantum computing and NVIDIA’s advanced GPU and quantum software environment, the collaboration forms a powerful alliance poised to redefine computational paradigms. With each organization bringing unique proficiency in HPC, quantum information science, and quantum technology to the table, collaborative efforts will concentrate on building the necessary infrastructure for algorithm development, performance characterization, and addressing grand challenge applications.

“The quantum computing ecosystem is rapidly evolving and becoming increasingly sophisticated and specialized, providing more opportunities for customized solutions and increased end user utility across a wide range of key verticals,” stated Bob Sorensen, Senior Vice President of Research and Chief Analyst for Quantum Computing at Hyperion Research, LLC. “The partnership between PSNC, ORCA, and NVIDIA marks an important milestone in this progression. The managed convergence of quantum computing with classical high-end systems provides significant potential to accelerate the existing base of traditional compute intensive workloads while broadening the field for new quantum-centric algorithms, applications, and use cases.”

In an industry first, the initiative will capitalize on utilizing multiple quantum computers, the ORCA PT-1 Series quantum photonic systems, recently installed at PSNC, in conjunction with NVIDIA GPU-based clusters. Additionally, the parties will harness PSNC’s developer environment and the NVIDIA CUDA-Q open-source quantum computing platform, all functioning within a unique hardware and software ecosystem. Through strategic resource allocation, each organization will significantly contribute to advancing this pioneering effort.

“This collaboration heralds a new era of computational innovation in quantum computing,” said Richard Murray, PhD, Co-founder, and CEO of ORCA Computing. “Aligning ORCA with like-minded partners in quantum will unlock unprecedented capabilities in solving complex real-world problems across various disciplines, now and into the future.”