Hidden Ergodic Relaxation in the Quench Dynamics of a Bichromatic Mott Lattice

Abstract

We investigate the nonequilibrium dynamics of strongly interacting bosons in a finite bichromatic Mott lattice following a sudden quench of the secondary lattice amplitude. The coefficient entropies and second R\'enyi entropy exhibit pronounced growth toward their Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble (GOE) predictions from random-matrix theory, consistent with GOE-like statistical spreading in the employed multiconfigurational representation. In striking contrast, experimentally accessible observables, including the momentum distribution, fragmentation, and Glauber correlation functions, remain nearly unchanged throughout the evolution. For the sampled strong quenches, the coefficient entropies, second R\'enyi entropy, and the $N$-body coefficient spreading collapse onto a common relaxation trajectory that becomes largely independent of the perturbation strength. Our results reveal an emergent hidden ergodic relaxation beneath the persistent local Mott-like order. An effective embedded random-matrix model captures the qualitative crossover from restricted to extensive Hilbert-space spreading, providing an interpretive framework for the observed relaxation dynamics.