Realization-Driven Emergence of Horizon-Like Structures on Quantum Hardware

Black holes are conventionally described as gravitational objects defined by spacetime geometry and event horizons. This geometric picture, while successful, leaves open fundamental questions concerning irreversibility, information isolation, and the universality of horizon-like behavior across physical systems. In this work, we propose and experimentally test an alternative framework: that horizon-like structures emerge as a consequence of realization dynamics, independent of gravity or spacetime curvature. By realization we mean the physical persistence of quantum structure under ongoing dynamics, as distinct from its mere mathematical existence in Hilbert space. Quantum structure that cannot be dynamically realized must be structurally excluded from the realizable domain. We implement a realization-based dynamical protocol on real superconducting quantum hardware provided by IBM Quantum, using sampler-native circuits without mid-circuit measurements or post-selection. A small quantum “world” subsystem is coupled to a non-realizable sink via a controllable realization barrier. Population of the sink qubit serves as an empirical signature of horizon-like absorption. Three regimes are experimentally compared: a fully realizable regime, a control regime with strong dynamics but no realization barrier, and a horizon regime in which unstable quantum structure is coherently redirected into the sink. Strong absorption is observed exclusively in the presence of the realization barrier, while the realizable and control regimes remain statistically indistinguishable. Control tests rule out noise, circuit depth, or strong driving as alternative explanations. These results constitute hardware-executed evidence that black-hole-like horizons can emerge purely from realization dynamics. We conclude that black holes may be understood as structural residues of completed realization rather than objects requiring gravitational collapse, opening a new experimental route to horizon physics grounded in quantum realization rather than geometry.