ICC Black Holes: Horizon as a Zero-Flow Surface, Planckian Core, and Gravitational-Wave Echo Predictions

We present a discrete information‑theoretic model of black holes within the Information Copying Cosmology (ICC) framework, where spacetime emerges as a simplicial complex with fundamental step a and local copying rate H (x, t). A black hole forms when defect accumulations saturate the copying capacity, driving H→0 and creating a zero‑flow surface Jcopy⋅r^=0 that replaces the classical event horizon. We derive effective field equations from the copying balance via a Martin–Siggia–Rose path integral, showing that the Newtonian limit ∇2Φ=4πGρeff emerges with Φ∼δH/Hbg and ρeff∝C (relative defect variance). The central singularity is eliminated, substituted by a Planckian core of radius ∼a. Statistical counting of defect configurations on the horizon yields S=A/4Gℏ for Δ∗=1/12, fixing the discreteness scale at a≈1, 22ℓP. The model reproduces the Schwarzschild metric asymptotically, predicts a minimal correction to the Hawking temperature (δ∼0, 02), and implies observable gravitational‑wave echoes with reflectivity scaling R∼ (ℓP/Rs) γ, γ∈1, 2. The framework resolves the information paradox via horizon‑locked defect encoding and offers falsifiable signatures testable by LISA and next‑generation interferometers.