QCPINN: quantum-classical physics-informed neural networks for solving PDEs

Abstract Physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) have emerged as promising methods for solving partial differential equations (PDEs) by embedding physical laws within neural architectures. However, these classical approaches often require a large number of parameters to achieve reasonable accuracy, particularly for complex PDEs. In this paper, we present a quantum-classical PINNs (QCPINNs) that combines quantum and classical components, allowing us to solve PDEs with significantly fewer parameters while maintaining comparable accuracy and convergence to classical PINNs. We systematically evaluated two quantum circuit architectures across various configurations on five benchmark PDEs to identify optimal QCPINN designs. Our results demonstrate that the QCPINN achieves stable convergence and comparable accuracy, while using only 10%–30% of the trainable parameters required by classical PINNs. This approach also results in a significant reduction in the relative L 2 error for Helmholtz, Klein–Gordon, and Convection–diffusion equations, with reduction ranging from 4% to 64% across various fields. These findings demonstrate the potential of parameter efficiency and solution accuracy in physics-informed machine learning, allowing for a substantial decrease in model complexity without compromising solution quality.