Quantum Transfer Learning Algorithm Based on Parameterized Quantum Circuit

This paper proposes a quantum transfer learning (QTL) algorithm that combines a transfer learning (TL) algorithm with parameterized quantum circuits (PQC) to investigate the relationship between PQC and model performance in hybrid quantum classical neural networks (HQCNN). The QTL algorithm effectively improves training speed compared to current quantum algorithms, facilitating a more effective exploration of the relationship between PQC and HQCNN. Experimental results show that the expressibility of PQCs is closely related to circuit structure, overlap depth, and the number of qubits. The all-circuits and annular-circuits (APQC) demonstrate better expressibility. Additionally, the expressibility of annular-circuits strongly correlates with the accuracy of the QTL model. The paper also explores the impact of pre-trained models on QTL performance. Ultimately, the pre-trained model ResNet18 and the quantum classifier based on APQC are chosen to form the QTL model. In terms of training time, QTL completes 20 epochs in 4 hours, saving 90% of time compared to general QCHNN.