  We study thermalization and non-equilibrium dynamics in a dissipative quantum
many-body system -- a chain of ions with two points of the chain driven by
thermal bath under different temperature. Instead of a simple linear
temperature gradient as one expects from the classical heat diffusion process,
the temperature distribution in the ion chain shows surprisingly rich patterns,
which depend on the ion coupling rate to the bath, the location of the driven
ions, and the dissipation rates of the other ions in the chain. Through
simulation of the temperature evolution, we show that these unusual temperature
distribution patterns in the ion chain can be quantitatively tested in
experiments within a realistic time scale.
