Abstract
Dispersive readout plays a central role in superconducting quantum computing, enabling quantum nondemolition measurements through a coupled microwave resonator. While stronger resonator drives can improve measurement speed and fidelity, they can also activate multi-photon resonances that trigger measurement-induced state transitions (MIST) out of the computational subspace. We develop a driven-dissipative framework for MIST that retains the quantum resonator response absent in semiclassical treatments and yields analytically derived transition-rate expressions. The upward and downward transition-rate profiles determine the steady-state populations and finite-time dynamics, enabling quantitative exploration across drive strength and detuning, while capturing the crossover between quantum-resolved and semiclassical-like dynamics. This framework reproduces the quantum dynamics and identifies a strongly driven regime beyond semiclassical Landau--Zener predictions, where delayed population transfer opens a finite-time readout window with high resonator photon population. These results establish MIST as a predictive driven-dissipative process and characterize strongly driven regimes that can be leveraged for measurement optimization.