Fujitsu received applications from a total of 43 teams of startups and universities from 17 countries and regions. Among them, 20 teams that passed the first selection process where Fujitsu evaluated applicants’ use cases with regard to their innovativeness and how they applied Fujitsu’s quantum simulator to contribute to the solution of societal problems. After the contest period, participating teams submitted a report of their research results. Based on these results an award committee consisting of 13 members including researchers from Fujitsu’s Quantum Laboratory awarded four winner teams of the challenge. The committee awarded Quanscient Oy (2) from Finland with the first prize for its project “quantum algorithms for fluid dynamics.”

Participants in total spent about 56,000 hours using the quantum simulator during the contest, and created various use cases ranging from basic research results including error correction technology to algorithm development that contributes to solving societal problems. The total award amount is USD 100,000.

Fujitsu plans to hold the quantum simulator challenge again in 2024 and beyond, utilizing an enhanced quantum simulator with 40 qubits, one of the largest in the world (3). Moving forward, Fujitsu will continue to collaborate with advanced startups in the quantum computing field globally and lead R&D toward the practical implementation of quantum computing technologies.

Hideto Okada, Head of Technology Strategy Unit, Fujitsu, comments:

“Participants of the quantum simulator challenge have developed various advanced applications using Fujitsu’s quantum simulator. All these exciting use cases highlight the power of quantum computing to quickly and accurately contribute to the solution of societal problems. We will continue to be at the forefront of quantum computing by working with our customers and partners to drive the development of quantum simulators and quantum applications. The Fujitsu quantum simulator challenge showed the importance of community activities and competition for innovation, and we will continue to work with the quantum computing community to drive further progress in the field of quantum computing.”

Background

High error rates and scalability issues in quantum computing hardware represent ongoing tasks in the usage of current quantum computers. To this end, developers of quantum computing technologies are increasingly focusing on quantum simulators running on high-performance computers (HPC), and are exploring applications in various fields. Fujitsu has been working with multiple customers to develop pioneering quantum applications using its quantum simulator, a cluster system consisting of the FUJITSU Supercomputer PRIMEHPC FX700 equipped with the same A64FX CPU at the heart of supercomputer Fugaku (4). As feedback from users of quantum simulators represents an important key in the development of quantum applications, Fujitsu opened up some of its quantum simulator resources to the public and started the “Fujitsu $100,000 Quantum Simulator Challenge” to gain feedback from participating research institutions, universities, and companies competing for quantum application development in various fields.

Winner teams:First prize: Quanscient Oy

Quantum algorithms for fluid dynamics

Performance of complex fluid simulations by applying quantum techniques to the field of fluid dynamicsDevelopment of quantum algorithms that can be used in vehicle/ship/aircraft manufacturing and biomedicine, and to measure and evaluate computational performanceSecond prize: Riverlane Limited (5)

Quantum stability experiments on the Fujitsu quantum simulator

Simulation of quantum stability, a key benchmark for quantum error correction (QEC), under realistic noise models with leakageVerification of quantum stability for different types of noise that cause errors in quantum calculations and discovery of previously unobserved behaviorThird prize: Qkrishi Quantum Private Limited (6) /Bloq Quantum Private Limited (7)

Optimized quantum kernels for improved credit card fraud detection

Application of quantum machine learning to detect credit card fraud on quantum simulatorsTest construction of a quantum simulator based back-end application that was evaluated by an insurance companyThird prize: University of Naples Federico II (8)

Interpretable and efficient control of smart cities with quantum computers

Combination of quantum computing and fuzzy theory (9) to build a system based on human language rulesApplication to smart city use cases such as wireless networks and traffic signal control

[1] De Oude Bibliotheek Academy :Location: Community space at the Delft University of Technology in Delft, the Netherlands (former university library of the Delft University of Technology)
[2] Quanscient Oy :Headquarters: Tampere, Finland; Co-Founders: Juha Riippi (CEO), Valtteri Lahtinen (Chief Scientist), Alexandre Halbach (CTO), Asser Lähdemäki (Chief Software Architect)
[3] One of the largest in the world :One of the world's largest permanent dedicated quantum simulator of state vector method (as of January 2024, according to Fujitsu)
[4] Supercomputer "Fugaku" :A computer jointly developed by RIKEN and Fujitsu as a successor to the supercomputer "K computer". From June 2020 to November 2021, Fugaku ranked first for four consecutive years in four of the major high-performance computer rankings. Fugaku was made available for shared use staring March 9, 2021.
[5] Riverlane Limited :Headquarters: Cambridge, UK; Founder and CEO: Steve Brierley
[6] Qkrishi Quantum Private Limited :Headquarters: Gurgaon, India; Founders: Monika Aggarwal and Prabha Narayan
[7] Bloq Quantum Private Limited :Headquarters: Kollam, India; CEO: Sreekuttan L S
[8] University of Naples Federico II :Location: Naples, Southern Italy; President: Matteo Lorito
[9] Fuzzy theory :A mathematical theory for dealing with ambiguity due to human subjectivity. Theorized concepts such as "very" and "a little."

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu’s purpose is to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation. As the digital transformation partner of choice for customers in over 100 countries, our 124,000 employees work to resolve some of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Our range of services and solutions draw on five key technologies: Computing, Networks, AI, Data & Security, and Converging Technologies, which we bring together to deliver sustainability transformation. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.7 trillion yen (US$28 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023 and remains the top digital services company in Japan by market share. Find out more: www.fujitsu.com.

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