NVIDIA Sets World Record for Quantum Computing Simulation

Running on NVIDIA’s Selene supercomputer, the new software development kit simulates 8 times more qubits than previous work.
NVIDIA announced that it broke a record that had a great impact in the developing world of quantum computing, and that it prepared software for everyone to do this job. It will drive innovations in quantum computing, climate research, drug discovery, finance and more.

By simulating tomorrow’s quantum computers in today’s classical systems, researchers will be able to develop and test quantum algorithms faster and at scales that would not otherwise be possible. The green team says it has created the largest quantum algorithm simulation ever to solve the MaxCut problem, using cuQuantum, a software development kit to accelerate quantum circuit simulations on a GPU.

MaxCut is often cited as an example of an optimization problem that no known computer in the mathematical world could solve efficiently. MaxCut algorithms are used to design large computer networks, find the optimal chip layout with billions of silicon paths, and explore the field of statistical physics.

NVIDIA used the cuTensorNet library from cuQuantum running on NVIDIA’s in-house supercomputer Selene to solve the MaxCut problem and simulate the quantum algorithm. They managed to solve a graph with 3,375 vertices using GPUs to simulate 1,688 qubits. That’s 8 times more qubits than the previous largest quantum simulation. The solution was extremely accurate, reaching 96% of known answers.

The cuTensorNet library that helped break the world record uses tensor networks to simulate hundreds or even thousands of qubits and will be available in December. The green team is now inviting everyone to try cuQuantum and break big records.