Minimal Fokker-Planck theory for the thermalization of mesoscopic subsystems

Abstract

We explore a minimal paradigm for thermalization, consisting of two weakly-coupled, low dimensional, non-integrable subsystems. As demonstrated for Bose-Hubbard trimers, chaotic ergodicity results in a diffusive response of each subsystem, insensitive to the details of the drive exerted on it by the other. This supports the hypothesis that thermalization can be described by a Fokker Plank equation. We also observe, however, that Levy-flight type anomalies may arise in mesoscopic systems, due to the wide range of time scales that characterize `sticky' dynamics.