Tunneling without tunneling: Wavefunction reduction in a mesoscopic qubit

The transformation cycle and associated inequality are suggested for the study of basic properties of the wavefunction reduction in a mesoscopic qubit in measurements with quantum-limited detectors. Violation of the inequality would demonstrate directly that the qubit state changes in a way dictated by the probabilistic nature of the wavefunction and inconsistent with the dynamics of the Schrödinger 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.