  We consider composite quantum-dynamical systems that can be partitioned into
weakly interacting subsystems, similar to system-bath type situations. Using a
factorized wave function ansatz, we mathematically characterize dynamical scale
separation.Specifically, we investigate a coupling r{\'e}gime that is partially
flat, i.e., slowly varying with respect to one set of variables, for example,
those of the bath. Further, we study the situation where one of the sets of
variables is semiclassically scaled and derive a quantum-classical formulation.
In both situations, we propose two schemes of dimension reduction: one based on
Taylor expansion (collocation) and the other one based on partial averaging
(mean-field). We analyze the error for the wave function and for the action of
observables, obtaining comparable estimates for both approaches. The present
study is the first step towards a general analysis of scale separation in the
context of tensorized wavefunction representations.
