Tunneling without tunneling: wavefunction reduction in a mesoscopic qubit

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to demonstrate wavefunction reduction in mesoscopic qubits through a transformation cycle and inequality violation, challenging traditional Schrödinger dynamics and feasible with current superconducting qubit technology.

Contribution

It introduces a new experimental approach using a transformation cycle and inequality to directly observe wavefunction reduction in mesoscopic qubits.

Findings

The proposed inequality can be violated in experiments.

The method is feasible with existing superconducting qubit technology.

Demonstrates wavefunction collapse without tunneling through barriers.

Abstract

The transformation cycle and associated inequality are suggested for the basic demonstration of the wavefunction reduction in a mesoscopic qubit in measurements with quantum-limited detectors. Violation of the inequality would show directly that the qubit state changes in a way dictated by the probabilistic nature of the wavefunction and inconsistent with the dynamics of the Schr\"{o}dinger equation: the qubit tunnels through an infinitely large barrier. Estimates show that the transformation cycle is within the reach of current experiments with superconducting qubits.