  A simple four-mode Bose-Hubbard model with intrinsic time scale separation
can be considered as a paradigm for mesoscopic quantum systems in thermal
contact. In our previous work we showed that in addition to coherent particle
exchange, a novel slow collective excitation can be identified by a series of
Holstein-Primakoff transformations. This resonant energy exchange mode is not
predicted by linear Bogoliubov theory, and its frequency is sensitive to
interactions among Bogoliubov quasi-particles; it may be referred to as a
second Josephson oscillation, in analogy to the second sound mode of liquid
Helium II. In this paper we will explore this system beyond the
Gross-Pitaevskii mean field regime. We directly compare the classical mean
field dynamics to the exact full quantum many-particle dynamics and show good
agreement over a large range of the system parameters. The second Josephson
frequency becomes imaginary for stronger interactions, however, indicating
dynamical instability of the symmetric state. By means of a generalized quantum
phase model for the full four-mode system, we then show that, in this regime,
high-energy Bogoliubov quasiparticles tend to accumulate in one pair of sites,
while the actual particles preferentially occupy the opposite pair. We
interpret this as a simple model for thermal pressure.
