Abstract
The evolution of complex correlated quantum systems such as random circuit networks is governed by the dynamical buildup of both entanglement and entropy. We here introduce a real-time field theory approach -- essentially a fusion of the G Σ-functional of the SYK-model and the field theory of disordered systems -- enigneered to microscopically describe the full range of such crossover dynamics: from initial product states to a maximum entropy ergodic state. To showcase this approach in the simplest nontrivial setting, we consider a tensor product of coupled random matrices, and compare to exact diagonalization.