General information on the Q-Exa user operation
Overview
After having operated the Q-Exa system at LRZ during the Friendly User Pilot Phase in 2024, we want to transition to the regular user operation of the system, in preparation to the upcoming release of Euro-Q-Exa. In the following, the main parameters for its operation are described.
Users of the system and access model
Every researcher with a scientific affiliation in a German institution is entitled to access the Q-Exa system. German companies can apply for using Q-Exa, within research project where public research institutions are involved as partners. The researchers can start submitting their project proposals immediately, the access to the system will be granted starting from September 1st, 2025.
We ask the researchers to fill our proposal template, to be downloaded here: LRZ QC project proposal template. The proposal will get a scientific review, by a researcher selected from an internal pool, and technical review done by the LRZ team. The scientific review assesses the objective of the proposal, its soundness and the expected impact in its research area, you want to address, whereas the technical review judges on the feasibility of the proposal, given the hardware constraints and proposed timeline. Based on the recommendations of the reviews, a fraction up to 100% of the requested computing resources will be assigned to the project. This budget can be consumed by any of the users associated to the project.
In the start-up phase of the Q-Exa regular user operation, and until a reviewing process is established, only the technical review will be performed, and the users will get 100% of the proposed computing resources.
The researchers who got access during the Friendly User Pilot Phase keep their access granted, but they are asked to fill and submit the proposal template as well, by September 30th. They may use the same data as in the proposal or final report of the Friendly User Pilot Phase, provided these are still relevant to the research planned during regular user operation.
The duration of each project is set to one year, with the possibility of applying for extensions, by submitting the one-year final report and providing justification. A graphics representing the user journey in applying to system access and using it is reported below.
Computing unit and priority on the system
The definition of the unit of measurement for the computing resources on the QC systems at LRZ, the equivalent qubit-second, can be found here: Definition of the computing unit for the LRZ Quantum Systems. The processing of jobs will be based on a fair scheduling scheme, where jobs from users who consume more resources have lower priority.
Communication plan
Mailing list
Each user will have his/her email address added to the mailing list qc-users@lists.lrz.de. This mailing list is used to communications on the status and operation of the system. Other list members are not enabled to send messages to the list.
Open Mic sessions
Building upon the experience of the Friendly User Pilot Phase, the LRZ team will offer again bi-weekly Open Mic sessions. During the sessions, colleagues from LRZ meet in a Zoom room and the users can freely join at any time and bring their questions or issues. The sessions will be announced on the mailing list via calendar invitations.
Element room
This was a valuable resource during the Friendly User Pilot Phase, but it does not scale with a larger number of users expected during the regular user operation and therefore it will be closed. The incident and user requests will be managed through a ticketing system (see below).
LRZ Solution Architects and project mentoring
The collaboration between the test users and the LRZ Solution Architects cannot be extended to all users during the regular operation, because of the obvious limitations in manpower. However, the users can apply in their project proposal for dedicated support and justify their request. The LRZ team, within the available personnel resources, will be happy to engage with the community. A standard level of support is guaranteed through our Incident and Service Request Management system (see below).
Incident and Service Request Management
As we transition from a test service to the regular operation of the Q-Exa system, also the support structure needs to be standardised. The LRZ Servicedesk ( https://servicedesk.lrz.de/en ) provides a simple Web interface for users to submit their incident reports or service requests; it allows the LRZ team to assign the ticket to the colleague in charge of a given issue, improving the communication and avoiding delays due e.g. to absences.
To reach the QCT team through the Servicedesk, select the service “Consulting Quantum Computing” or use the “Simple Submit” interface at the following link:
https://servicedesk.lrz.de/en/simplesubmit/164
Software environment and other resources
After getting the LRZ ID, the users will be able to access the Munich Quantum Portal at the address https://portal.quantum.lrz.de/ . Under “Status”, the “Introduction to the software stack” is a valuable resource to familiarise with the QC environment at LRZ.
Regarding the Munich Quantum Software Stack (MQSS), the Qiskit Provider used during the Friendly User Pilot Phase has been deprecated in favour of the newly developed MQSS Qiskit Adapter. Its documentation can be found here:
https://munich-quantum-software-stack.github.io/MQSS-Interfaces/qiskit/index.html
The Qiskit Adapter is part of the MQSS Interfaces, documented here: https://munich-quantum-software-stack.github.io/MQSS-Interfaces/
On the hardware side, the system specifications for the Q-Exa system are here: https://meetiqm.com/products/iqm-radiance/ and in the following publication: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.12433
The documentation for running Variational Quantum Algorithms (VQAs) on the system will be prepared soon and located in these pages.