Interview | Philippe Duluc, Chief Technology Officer, Atos

Philippe Duluc, Chief Technology Officer at Atos shares his thoughts on the infrastructure building blocks required to begin a Quantum computing or secure communications proof of concept, the progress of Quantum computing adoption and the biggest challenges facing the adoption of Quantum technology in 2021.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the adoption of Quantum technology in 2021?

Although research in quantum computing is quite old, it is only recently that advances in hardware technologies allow us to consider the use of quantum processors to solve real-life problems. We are only at the beginning of this transition from research to implementation on concrete use cases. To facilitate the adoption of quantum computing - which we expect to be massive in the next few years - we must first convince end users of its potential benefits. These benefits must be considered in an application context and not only on theoretical performances. We know that it is only a matter of time before technically and economically viable quantum processors are widely available. We ourselves have committed to having an NISQ quantum accelerator in our quantum solutions portfolio by 2023.

To be ready by that deadline, i.e. when these processors are available, it is crucial to prepare now, knowing that getting up to speed and developing quantum computing skills can take several years. Back in 2016, we anticipated this and launched our Atos Quantum program with this in mind, namely, to provide a platform to get acquainted with, to learn about quantum computing - hence the name Atos Quantum Learning Machine (QLM). With the Atos QLM, it is possible to reduce the duration of the learning curve.

Looking ahead a year from now, how do you see the adoption of Quantum computing progressing?

As a provider of tools to accelerate the development of quantum applications, we are well positioned to see the evolution of quantum computing adoption. Until a year ago, most requests came from research centres and academia. Over the past year, we have seen a sharp increase in requests from industry. These clients are very interested in innovative approaches to deal with the concrete problems they face. This is also reflected in the evolution of exchanges that take place within our user group, the QLM User Club (Qlub). These exchanges are increasingly oriented towards industrial return on experience.

Can you share an example of how your platform or application has been used by a new customer?Feel free to include any feedback or practical examples.

I could tell you about one of our latest customers: the Leibniz-Rechenzentrum (LRZ). The LRZ is the Supercomputing Centre that provides IT services for all Munich universities as well as a growing number of research organizations throughout Bavaria. The Atos QLM is used there in two very special contexts that are worth noting. First, the LRZ is positioned as a quantum hub in the heart of a very active Bavarian community, and the Atos QLM will help them develop applications that can be easily adapted to different quantum hardware technologies. Secondly, we are working with the LRZ, as a supercomputing centre, to integrate Quantum Computing into High-Performance Computing (HPC) applications. The idea is to eventually have quantum acceleration capabilities in classical HPC workflows. To a certain extent, this could be compared to the integration of GPU-type solutions to accelerate processing, particularly in the context of AI applications.

Top tips: How can you best engage and support the business to adopt Quantum technologies?

To facilitate the adoption of quantum technologies, we have decided to make the programming environment of our quantum simulator accessible to everyone. This is myQLM, which can be downloaded and installed for free. This environment has many assets that make it particularly well suited to learn quantum computing. First, it is a universal programming language, provided in a very standard environment in the form of Python modules. The easy-to-access and comprehensive documentation is completed by many tutorials. This allows, thanks to examples of increasing complexity, to be very quickly autonomous in the writing of quantum algorithms, including advanced algorithms such as variational algorithms. Finally, myQLM has interoperability kits that allow import and export with other quantum programming frameworks, which facilitates collaboration with other organizations.

Top tips: What is the best single piece of advice you can give to an enterprise looking to start their Quantum journey?

Download and install myQLM very easily on your laptop (www.atos.net/myqlm) and learn how to write quantum circuits!

What technology infrastructure building blocks are required to begin a Quantum computing or secure communications proof of concept?

To set up a quantum computing proof of concept, it is necessary to respect several steps. First, it is important to well define the business use case that will be studied, as well as the associated data sets. Based on this use case, our expert consultants can identify the mathematical problem or the class of problems to which the business use case can be related. We then identify and analyse the relevant algorithmic approaches. Finally, we can implement these algorithms and data in our quantum simulator, the Atos QLM. This simulator allows to study the performance of the selected algorithm, not only in perfect qubit contexts, thanks to the noiseless simulation, but also by simulating the behaviour on processors of different technologies, thanks to the noisy simulation and the noise models that are provided with the Atos QLM. It is thus possible to compare the different hardware technologies, by studying the behaviour of the algorithm and its relevance to the resolution of the business problem, by simulating these different technologies.

What are you most looking forward to at the Quantum.Tech digital event?

Quantum Computing is at the intersection between three areas: hardware, software, and applications. The development and the success of this new technology will require efforts in each of these domains. Quantum.Tech offers a great platform for players of these respective fields to meet and exchange on their progresses and perspectives. It is a use-case-oriented event and finding practical applications for quantum computing is critical to maintain the momentum around this exciting topic. At Atos, we are promoting the practical topics end-users are currently exploring will drive funding for research.