  We prove that quantum many-body systems on a one-dimensional lattice locally
relax to Gaussian states under non-equilibrium dynamics generated by a bosonic
quadratic Hamiltonian. This is true for a large class of initial states - pure
or mixed - which have to satisfy merely weak conditions concerning the decay of
correlations. The considered setting is a proven instance of a situation where
dynamically evolving closed quantum systems locally appear as if they had truly
relaxed, to maximum entropy states for fixed second moments. This furthers the
understanding of relaxation in suddenly quenched quantum many-body systems. The
proof features a non-commutative central limit theorem for non-i.i.d. random
variables, showing convergence to Gaussian characteristic functions, giving
rise to trace-norm closeness. We briefly relate our findings to ideas of
typicality and concentration of measure.
