  We excite the vacuum of a relativistic theory of bosons coupled to a $U(1)$
gauge field in 1+1 dimensions (bosonic Schwinger model) out of equilibrium by
creating a spatially separated particle-antiparticle pair connected by a string
of electric field. During the evolution, we observe a strong confinement of
bosons witnessed by the bending of their light cone, reminiscent of what has
been observed for the Ising model [Nat. Phys. 13, 246 (2017)]. As a
consequence, for the time scales we are able to simulate, the system evades
thermalization and generates exotic asymptotic states. These states are made of
two disjoint regions, an external deconfined region that seems to thermalize,
and an inner core that reveals an area-law saturation of the entanglement
entropy.
