Extended Quantum Computing Patterns

How to store, version, and distribute the various heterogeneous artifacts of a hybrid quantum application?

Hybrid quantum applications comprise a wide variety of artifacts, e.g., classical programs, quantum circuits, deployment models, and specifications of the control and data flow [Weder et al., 2022]. The execution of hybrid quantum applications in a target environment requires the availability of these artifacts. For a stable execution in production environments, the application must be versioned and all dependencies must be fixed [Altmanninger et al., 2009].

Enter your input for this section here. Software in the quantum computing domain is frequently updated [Vietz et al., 2021], [Weder et al.,2021b]. This often leads to incompatibility when upgrading different parts of the application. Further, identifying all required artifacts and transferring them into a target environment is time-consuming, complex, and error-prone. Distributing and selling hybrid quantum applications, e.g., via a marketplace, typically requires them to be available as a single entity.

To enable the storage, versioning, and distribution of hybrid quantum applications, package all required artifacts in a self-contained quantum application archive as shown in Figure 2. Thereby, ensure that all artifacts have a fixed version to prevent incompatibilities through future updates. The quantum application archive must comprise all artifacts required to set up the execution environment of the application and to subsequently execute it in this environment.

By packaging quantum applications utilizing a quantum application archive, all classical and quantum artifacts required for execution can be shared as a single entity. Since the archive does not only contain the executable programs but also comprises all the necessary data for setting up the execution environment, it can be executed independently of the execution environment installed by the user. Due to the holistic versioning of the artifacts of the quantum application archive, incompatibilities are prevented.

–

Hybrid quantum algorithms within a quantum application archive are commonly realized by the Hybrid Module pattern [Bühler et al., 2023]. To deploy and execute the packaged quantum application, the Pre-deployed Execution pattern [Georg et al., 2023] can be utilized. The Quantum Application Testing pattern should be applied when packaging a hybrid quantum application to verify the correct behavior of all contained artifacts.

Weder et al.,2021b introduce a concept for the self-contained packaging of hybrid quantum applications. Different development lifecycles for hybrid quantum applications have been presented that include the packaging of the application as an essential phase [Gheorghe-Pop et al.,2020], [Weder et al., 2022]. Leymann et al., 2019 describe a platform for distributing quantum applications, which enables users to package and sell their quantum applications.