Fujitsu opens quantum app package on GitHub worldwide

Fujitsu has released its Open Quantum Application Research Package as open-source software, making it available worldwide through GitHub.

The move opens a quantum application development platform with more than 100 software components, including Fujitsu-developed quantum algorithms that can be combined to build applications.

Quantum computing has attracted interest from industries including materials, finance, healthcare and drug discovery because of its potential to tackle problems that conventional computers struggle to solve. One barrier has been the difficulty of writing specialised code for quantum algorithms, limiting wider use beyond specialist teams.

OpenQARP is intended to lower that barrier by offering reusable software building blocks instead of requiring developers to write each element from scratch. The package includes more than 70 composable components, ranging from state preparation and ansatz layers to the Quantum Fourier Transform, alongside more than 20 ready-to-run algorithms.

In one quantum chemistry example, the package reduced the code needed for an ADAPT-VQE process from about 130 lines of Python to fewer than 40, according to Fujitsu. The work relates to calculating molecular electronic states, an area often cited as a possible long-term use case for quantum systems.

Broader access

The software can be installed in a standard PC environment that supports Python, allowing developers to test and build applications without access to specialised quantum hardware. It can also work with GPU-based systems through NVIDIA CUDA-Q and run in Fujitsu's own quantum simulator environment based on high-performance computing infrastructure.

That simulator environment is built from 1,024 Fujitsu Supercomputer PRIMEHPC FX700 units using the company's A64FX processor, and supports a 40-qubit state-vector quantum simulator. More than 80 organisations have already used the pre-release beta version through joint research work and the Quantum Simulator Challenge.

Those early users have produced a range of research and development results in quantum applications, though Fujitsu did not provide detailed examples in the announcement.

Some of the algorithms in the package were developed by Fujitsu. They include the Unitary Pair Coupled Cluster Doubles algorithm, which uses results from classical computing to reduce the number of quantum gate layers needed for initial state preparation in quantum chemistry calculations, and Density of States Quantum Phase Estimation, which is intended to reduce the burden of preparing input states for quantum phase estimation.

Regional links

In Australia, Fujitsu has also been expanding its quantum computing research ties. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with CSIRO and Monash University to provide Australian researchers and students with access to Fujitsu quantum computing technology and systems in Japan.

It has also partnered with the Australian National University on plans for a quantum research facility and an on-site quantum computer in Canberra. Those links give the latest software release a regional angle for researchers and businesses in Australia and New Zealand looking to experiment with quantum applications.

Mahesh Krishnan, Chief Technology Officer for Oceania at Fujitsu, said the release could reduce the work involved in early-stage development. "The true potential of quantum computing lies in solving complex challenges that classical computers can't solve. Until now, writing the software to do that has been incredibly tedious and time-consuming. Fujitsu's OpenQARP has changed that by providing pre-built components that make it easier for developers across Australia and New Zealand to start exploring quantum computing. This allows local researchers and businesses to focus on validating actual applications in areas like material development, financial optimisation, healthcare and drug discovery, right from their standard PC environments," Krishnan said.

Open strategy

The software release also fits into Fujitsu's broader quantum computing push. The company has been working with RIKEN on superconducting quantum computing and says it has developed a 256-qubit superconducting quantum computer.

It has also started development of a superconducting quantum computer with more than 10,000 qubits. Separately, Fujitsu says it has developed a working diamond-spin quantum computing prototype using tin-vacancy centres to improve qubit stability.

NVIDIA also commented on the software's use of its CUDA-Q platform. "Providing the open tools and resources to accelerate quantum application development is one of the most important ways to accelerate the journey to useful quantum computing. Fujitsu's use of CUDA-Q in OpenQARP (code name) shows how the right open tools, with access to GPU acceleration, are empowering developers to build and scale towards quantum utility," Stanwyck said.