Hybrid Quantum Classical Machine Learning with Knowledge Distillation

The rapid advancement of machine learning (ML) and the growing need for computational power have led to the exploration of quantum computing, which offers significant potential for faster complex calculations. However, Quantum Machine Learning (QML) faces challenges due to the limited number of qubits and noise of quantum circuits, particularly with Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices. These challenges severely limit the current capacity to train accurate and stable Quantum Machine Learning Models. In this paper, we propose a novel framework for QML that employs the knowledge distillation method to harness the power of well-trained classical machine learning (CML) models and enhance the training performance of QML models. In this framework, we utilize the well-trained CML as a teacher model to assist the training of the student QML model using the knowledge distillation method. By distilling knowledge from the robust CML model, our framework can potentially address the problem of the barren plateau which hinders effective model training. Knowledge distillation is well suited for this framework through the transfer of knowledge without parameter sharing. Through empirical tests, our framework has demonstrated not only an increase in the accuracy of QML models but also a notable improvement in training stability.