Do Superconducting Qubits Challenge The Copenhagen Interpretation?

The interpretation of quantum states on real quantum processors has direct consequences for how noise is modeled and mitigated. The conventional Copenhagen view assumes each experimental shot corresponds to a pure quantum state that collapses upon measurement, with deviations from ideal statistics arising solely from shot noise and hardware errors. In contrast, the ensemble interpretation denies state assignment to individual shots and treats the density operator as an operational description of preparation procedures. We perform a falsifiable test of these views using single-qubit states and two-qubit Bell states measured in X, Y, and Z bases on IBM transmon devices. After removing classical readout bias via joint assignment-matrix deconvolution, we compare empirical outcome distributions to Copenhagen prediction bands defined by finite-shot fluctuations plus calibrated 1Q/2Q gate error budgets. We observe statistically significant violations at the 95% and 99% confidence levels, indicating that deviations cannot be explained solely by conventional noise models. These results suggest that quantum noise on transmon hardware may require reinterpretation when state realism is not assumed at the single-shot level.