SEQUOIA End-to-End - Transparent Quantum Software Engineering and Algorithm Design of application-centric End-to-End Solutions

Quantum computers promise enormous potential for the economy of tomorrow through speed and precision advantages by providing perspective hybrid solution approaches for previously complex or even unsolvable problem instances. 
A high-performance implementation of hybrid algorithms using abstracted high-level packages of today's software development kits (SDKs) is not yet efficiently possible. 
For such solutions, the data pre- and post-processing as well as the characteristics of current QC hardware and software (especially with regard to the transpilation pipeline) should always be considered extensively.
The generation of such performant and stable solution approaches is nowadays only possible by relevant expert knowledge. 
The main goal of the joint research project SEQUOIA End-to-End is therefore to make today's bottlenecks in the entire quantum software development process transparent and to research and provide performant, automated and controllable end-to-end solutions for industrial use cases through holistic quantum software engineering.

Research and development work is carried out in three focus areas:

In the first field, a precise understanding of all processes in quantum software development and in particular in their interfaces is being developed. Based on this, an optimal, algorithm-specific use of current quantum computers (in particular the IBM Quantum System One Ehningen) is being researched by means of high-performance transpilation and error mitigation pipelines, as well as a well-founded potential assessment for the industrial use cases of the company network is being derived.

The second focus area is dedicated to quantum software engineering. Here, tools and tool chains for the efficient development of quantum applications are researched and techniques for systematic testing and debugging are developed to enable reliability and thus industrial applicability.

In the third focus area, benchmarks are developed based on the industrial use cases of the company network, which quantify the state of quantum computing for various industrial issues. End-to-end demonstrators will be developed and made available that provide best practices for the entire quantum software development process and make them comprehensible to non-quantum computing experts.

• Transparency and further development of the quantum software development process:
  
  From industrial use cases to problem-specific algorithm design and optimal transpilation to error mitigation, post-processing and result utilisation. Traceability and overcoming current bottlenecks in the four process steps and especially in their interfaces is the central focus here.
  
  
• Quantum software engineering:
  
  Tools, tool chains, approaches, best practices and systematic design space exploration with a focus on the smooth connection and controllability of the four process steps of the quantum software development process.
  
  
• End-to-end solutions:
  
  Eight use cases from the fields of production, logistics, engineering and automotive form the basis. From these, demonstrators and application-specific benchmarks are developed and knowledge is transferred to industry and society.