It takes 7,000 GPUs to simulate a tiny quantum processor. Although it may not seem like it, it is excellent news.

The complexity of quantum computers It is extraordinary. In their construction it is possible to rely on several very different strategies, such as, for example, superconducting qubits, ion traps or neutral atoms, among other technologies, but they all have something in common: to a large extent its power is a consequence of its complexity. Of the complexity inherent in any device designed to take advantage the laws of quantum physics.

The surprising thing is that, despite its sophistication and exoticism, it is already possible to accurately simulate a small quantum processor using conventional hardware. In fact, has achieved it a research group from the Quantum Systems Accelerator and the Division of Applied Mathematics and Computational Research at the University of California at Berkeley (USA). This is not the first time that a quantum processor has been simulated, but until now no one had managed to do it by emulating every physical detail before its manufacture.

A new era begins in quantum chip design

Here’s a shocking fact: the Berkeley researchers I mentioned in the previous paragraph have carried out their simulation of a quantum chip using the Perlmutter supercomputer, which contains 7,168 NVIDIA GPUs. To achieve their purpose, they used almost all of these GPUs for 24 uninterrupted hours, so it is evident that the computational effort was titanic. But they got it. They managed to model a multilayer quantum chip 10 mm wide and 0.3 mm thick, accurately simulating how signals travel and interact within this processor.

This statement from Andy Nonaka, one of the scientists at the Berkeley Quantum Systems Accelerator, express clearly Why this milestone is so important:

“I’m not aware of anyone having ever done physical modeling of microelectronic circuits at the full scale of the Perlmutter system. We were using almost 7,000 GPUs (…) We divided the chip into 11 billion grid cells and were able to run over a million time steps in seven hours, allowing us to evaluate three circuit configurations in a single day. These simulations would not have been possible in this time frame without the complete system”

What really what makes the difference is precision with which they have managed to carry out the design and simulation of their quantum processor. “We perform a full-wave physics-level simulation, which means we care about what material is used in the chip, its design, how the metal is wired (using niobium or other types of metal wires), how the resonators are built, what the size, shape and material used are (…) We care about those physical details and we include them in our model,” Nonaka says.

A priori we can conclude that using almost 7,000 GPUs for 24 hours with the computational effort and energy expenditure involved in this process to simulate a quantum chip just 10 mm wide and 0.3 mm thick is not a success. But yes it is. Thanks to this technology, it will now be possible to design quantum hardware in less time and in a more efficient way. Bert de Jong, director of the Berkeley Quantum Systems Accelerator, invites us to look towards the future of quantum computing with optimism:

“This unprecedented simulation is a critical step in accelerating the design and development of quantum hardware. More powerful, higher-performance chips will unlock new capabilities for researchers and open new avenues in science”

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More information | ScienceDaily

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