The University of Osaka has built a platform that lets its supercomputer and home-grown quantum computers work as one system, and tested it on a chemistry problem.
Researchers at the university created the platform, called SEAFOOD, to connect the OCTOPUS supercomputer with superconducting quantum computers developed at the university. According to the university's announcement, it is the first time in Japan that a domestically developed quantum computer and a supercomputer at the same university have been combined into a single workflow. The platform is scheduled to begin operating in December 2026.
Today's quantum computers have few qubits and make frequent errors, so pairing them with supercomputers is a practical way to use the strengths of both.
A test run on four hydrogen atoms
SEAFOOD links the two kinds of machines through OQTOPUS, open-source software developed by the university's Center for Quantum Information and Quantum Biology and its partners. Programs on the supercomputer can send calculations directly to the quantum machines and receive results. To demonstrate the system, the team ran a method called quantum-selected configuration interaction, or QSCI. In this approach, now described in a paper in Physical Review Research, the quantum computer measures which electron arrangements matter most, and the supercomputer then carries out the matrix calculations that yield the molecule's energy. In a test with four hydrogen atoms, the supercomputer and a quantum computer named Urchin completed the full calculation as one integrated job, and the resulting ground-state energy matched a conventional reference calculation.
Selected research teams at the university will be offered trial access, and the lessons learned will be used to improve job scheduling and explore wider access.
This matters because useful quantum computing will likely depend on hybrid systems for years to come. A ready-made platform lets scientists focus on developing new algorithms and applications, in areas such as drug discovery and materials design, instead of building the connection themselves. Because the software is open source and uses standard interfaces, other institutions may be able to adopt similar systems.