Toward a Quantum-Science Gateway: A Hybrid Reference Architecture Facilitating Quantum Computing Capabilities for Cloud Utilization

The emerging availability of quantum compute resources fosters the examination of its exploitation possibilities in different scientific domains, like artificial intelligence, manufacturing or finance. A significant number of research scientists primarily rely on cloud computing infrastructures while conducting research, whereas access to real (mostly remote) quantum hardware resources requires the deployment and proper configuration of different software components. In this paper we present a hybrid, cloud-based reference architecture that lowers the entry barrier to start new experiments with a wide range of quantum compute resources. The solution facilitates the execution of distributed quantum computing simulations in traditional cloud environments, and also access to several remote quantum compute resources. The reference architecture is highly portable to various cloud platforms, resulting in efficient adaptation and application possibilities by research communities. For demonstration purposes, the paper describes our related experiences on the federated, OpenStack-based research infrastructure of the Hungarian Research Network (abbreviated as HUN-REN).