  Repulsively bound pairs of particles in a lattice governed by the
Bose-Hubbard model can form stable incompressible clusters of dimers
corresponding to finite-size n=2 Mott insulators. Here we study the dynamics of
hole defects in such clusters corresponding to unpaired particles which can
resonantly tunnel out of the cluster into the lattice vacuum. Due to bosonic
statistics, the unpaired particles have different effective mass inside and
outside the cluster, and "evaporation" of hole defects from the cluster
boundaries is possible only when their quasi-momenta are within a certain
transmission range. We show that quasi-thermalization of hole defects occurs in
the presence of catalyzing particle defects which thereby purify the Mott
insulating clusters. We study the dynamics of one-dimensional system using
analytical techniques and numerically exact t-DMRG simulations. We derive an
effective strong-interaction model that enables simulations of the system
dynamics for much longer times. We also discuss a more general case of two
bosonic species which reduces to the fermionic Hubbard model in the strong
interaction limit.

Quantum Physics;Quantum Gases