High-performance computing (HPC) has evolved over decades through multiple architectural transitions, from vector supercomputers to massively parallel CPU clusters and GPU-accelerated systems, continuously expanding the frontier of scientific discovery. With the emergence of quantum processing units (QPUs) as practical computational accelerators, a new opportunity arises to further extend this trajectory by integrating quantum and classical computing paradigms. Building on the emerging vision of Quantum Integrated High-Performance Computing (QHPC), this paper contributes a full-stack layered architecture that integrates QPUs as first-class accelerators within, not merely alongside, the classical HPC software and hardware stack, with tight, on-premise quantum-classical coupling as its defining characteristic. The architecture comprises of unified resource management, quantum-aware scheduling, hybrid workflow orchestration, middleware and programming abstraction, interconnect technologies, and a tiered execution model enabling seamless workload partitioning across classical and quantum backends. A central aspect of this architecture is a strong user requests abstraction layer that exposes heterogeneous resources through a unified job submission interface, similar in spirit to existing schedulers such as Slurm, allowing users to describe workloads in a consistent template independent of underlying compute type or location. Drawing insights from prior accelerator integration eras, we outline how QHPC can support emerging workloads in quantum chemistry, materials discovery, combinatorial optimization, and climate modeling. We conclude by highlighting open challenges in building scalable, reliable, and programmable quantum-classical infrastructures that seamlessly connect global users to heterogeneous compute resources for future quantum-classical HPC ecosystems.
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Accepted for publication in Elsevier Future Generation Computer Systems: Special Collection on Advances in Quantum Computing: Methods, Algorithms, and Systems
High-performance computing (HPC) has evolved over decades through multiple architectural transitions, from vector supercomputers to massively parallel CPU clusters and GPU-accelerated systems, continuously expanding the frontier of scientific discovery. With the emergence of quantum processing units (QPUs) as practical computational accelerators, a new opportunity arises to further extend this trajectory by integrating quantum and classical computing paradigms. Building on the emerging vision of Quantum Integrated High-Performance Computing (QHPC), this paper contributes a full-stack layered architecture that integrates QPUs as first-class accelerators within, not merely alongside, the classical HPC software and hardware stack, with tight, on-premise quantum-classical coupling as its defining characteristic. The architecture comprises of unified resource management, quantum-aware scheduling, hybrid workflow orchestration, middleware and programming abstraction, interconnect technologies, and a tiered execution model enabling seamless workload partitioning across classical and quantum backends. A central aspect of this architecture is a strong user requests abstraction layer that exposes heterogeneous resources through a unified job submission interface, similar in spirit to existing schedulers such as Slurm, allowing users to describe workloads in a consistent template independent of underlying compute type or location. Drawing insights from prior accelerator integration eras, we outline how QHPC can support emerging workloads in quantum chemistry, materials discovery, combinatorial optimization, and climate modeling. We conclude by highlighting open challenges in building scalable, reliable, and programmable quantum-classical infrastructures that seamlessly connect global users to heterogeneous compute resources for future quantum-classical HPC ecosystems.
High-performance computing (HPC) has evolved over decades through multiple architectural transitions, from vector supercomputers to massively parallel CPU clusters and GPU-accelerated systems, continuously expanding the frontier of scientific discovery. With the emergence of quantum processing units (QPUs) as practical computational accelerators, a new opportunity arises to further extend this trajectory by integrating quantum and classical computing paradigms. Building on the emerging vision of Quantum Integrated High-Performance Computing (QHPC), this paper contributes a full-stack layered architecture that integrates QPUs as first-class accelerators within, not merely alongside, the classical HPC software and hardware stack, with tight, on-premise quantum–classical coupling as its defining characteristic. The architecture comprises of unified resource management, quantum-aware scheduling, hybrid workflow orchestration, middleware and programming abstraction, interconnect technologies, and a tiered execution model enabling seamless workload partitioning across classical and quantum backends. A central aspect of this architecture is a strong user requests abstraction layer that exposes heterogeneous resources through a unified job submission interface, similar in spirit to existing schedulers such as Slurm, allowing users to describe workloads in a consistent template independent of underlying compute type or location. Drawing insights from prior accelerator integration eras, we outline how QHPC can support emerging workloads in quantum chemistry, materials discovery, combinatorial optimization, and climate modeling. We conclude by highlighting open challenges in building scalable, reliable, and programmable quantum–classical infrastructures that seamlessly connect global users to heterogeneous compute resources for future quantum–classical HPC ecosystems.
Quantum computers have demonstrated utility in simulating quantum systems beyond brute-force classical approaches. As the community builds on these demonstrations to explore using quantum computing for applied research, algorithms and workflows have emerged that require leveraging both quantum computers and classical high-performance computing (HPC) systems to scale applications, especially in chemistry and materials, beyond what either system can simulate alone. Today, these disparate systems operate in isolation, forcing users to manually orchestrate workloads, coordinate job scheduling, and transfer data between systems -- a cumbersome process that hinders productivity and severely limits rapid algorithmic exploration. These challenges motivate the need for flexible and high-performance Quantum-Centric Supercomputing (QCSC) systems that integrate Quantum Processing Units (QPUs), Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), and Central Processing Units (CPUs) to accelerate discovery of such algorithms across applications. These systems will be co-designed across quantum and classical HPC infrastructure, middleware, and application layers to accelerate the adoption of quantum computing for solving critical computational problems. We envision QCSC evolution through three distinct phases: (1) quantum systems as specialized compute offload engines within existing HPC complexes; (2) heterogeneous quantum and classical HPC systems coupled through advanced middleware, enabling seamless execution of hybrid quantum-classical algorithms; and (3) fully co-designed heterogeneous quantum-HPC systems for hybrid computational workflows. This article presents a reference architecture and roadmap for these QCSC systems.
As quantum computing (QC) technologies mature, their integration into established high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructures is becoming a central objective for next-generation computing systems. However, unlocking the potential of hybrid platforms for computationally demanding workloads remains challenging. The mismatch between quantum and classical programming models, the limited maturity of quantum software stacks, and the scarcity of quantum processing units (QPUs) above all, necessitate scheduling strategies that go beyond standard HPC mechanisms to manage such heterogeneous and constrained resources.
To address this issue, we investigate three distinct methodologies for HPC-QC resource scheduling: time-based multiplexing, dynamic resource management, and workflow decomposition. Experimental validation on production HPC clusters and real quantum hardware demonstrates the effectiveness of these approaches under different workload scenarios. Malleability and workflow strategies significantly optimize classical resource utilization, reducing consumption by up to 45.7% and 64% respectively, proving to be best fitted for hybrid jobs where quantum and classical workloads are evenly balanced. Conversely, time-multiplexing enhances QPU utilization and reduces execution time at the cluster level, making it the optimal strategy for the opposite context, which is characterized by high classical-quantum workload imbalances. These findings underscore the practical viability of tailored scheduling strategies for hybrid HPC-QC environments and highlight their complementarity in building efficient, scalable software stacks for next-generation quantum-accelerated facilities.
Quantum computing resources are increasingly being incorporated into high-performance computing (HPC) environments as co-processors for hybrid workloads. To support this paradigm, quantum devices must be treated as schedulable first-class resources within existing HPC infrastructure. This enables consistent workload management, unified resource visibility, and support for hybrid quantum-classical job execution models. This paper presents a reference architecture and implementation for the integration of quantum computing resources, both on-premises and cloud-hosted into HPC centers via standard workload managers. We introduce a Slurm plugin designed to abstract and control quantum backends, enabling seamless resource scheduling, minimizing queue duplication, and supporting job co-scheduling with classical compute nodes. The architecture supports heterogeneous quantum resources and can be extended to any workload (and container) management systems.
The connection and eventual integration of High-Performance Computing (HPC) with Quantum Computing (QC) represents a transformative advancement in computational technology, promising significant enhancements in solving complex, previously intractable problems. This manuscript provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of HPC-QC interfacing, detailing architectural methodologies, software stack developments, middleware functionalities, and hardware integration strategies. It critically assesses existing hardware-level integration models, ranging from standalone and loosely-coupled architectures to tightly-integrated and on-node systems. The software ecosystem is analyzed, highlighting prominent frameworks such as Qiskit, PennyLane, CUDA-Q, and middleware solutions like Pilot-Quantum, essential for seamless hybrid computing environments. Furthermore, the manuscript discusses practical applications in optimization, machine learning, and many-body dynamics, where hybrid HPC-QC systems can offer substantial advantages. It also describes existing challenges, including hardware limitations (coherence, scalability, connectivity), software maturity, communication overhead, resource management complexities, and cost factors. Finally, future directions towards tighter hardware and software integration are discussed, emphasizing ongoing research developments and emerging trends that promise to expand the capabilities and accessibility of hybrid HPC-QC systems.
In this work, we demonstrate hybrid High Performance Computing-Quantum Computing (HPCQC) workflows on a production petascale system. The demonstration combines three components: the SuperMUC-NG supercomputer at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ), a 20-qubit superconducting quantum processor provided by IQM Quantum Computers (IQM), and Munich Quantum Valley (MQV)'s Munich Quantum Software Stack (MQSS).
Integrating quantum processors into High Performance Computing (HPC) systems requires a heterogeneous software stack capable of orchestrating classical and quantum resources within established supercomputing workflows. MQSS treats Quantum Processing Units (QPUs) as scheduler-managed accelerators and it performs resource coordination following a two-level scheduling scheme. Slurm performs system-level allocation by exposing QPUs as Generic RESources (GRES), while the MQSS Quantum Resource Manager & Compiler Infrastructure (QRM&CI) performs just-in-time compilation and subsequent dispatch of quantum circuits.
To integrate with existing HPC operations without modifying the scheduler core, MQSS introduces an open-source SLURM Plugin Suite based on Prolog/Epilog scripts and SPANK modules. Experimental results show that hybrid HPCQC workflows can be executed without significant latency overhead compared to conventional workloads.
The presented architecture provides a portable integration model for quantum accelerators on large-scale HPC systems and is directly applicable to next-generation Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Cray platforms, including LRZ's upcoming 'Blue Lion' supercomputer.