Fig. 3: Vibrational strong coupling effects on OH vibrational energy transfer pathways.

a, b Vibrational energy transfer pathways of OH stretch in monomer 1 (w1) and monomer 7 (w7) of \({({{{{\rm{H}}}}}_{2}{{{\rm{O}}}})}_{21}\)-cavity system. c, d Dipole derivative correlation values and vibrational frequency shift (Δν) of OH stretches in \({({{{{\rm{H}}}}}_{2}{{{\rm{O}}}})}_{21}\) relative to the first OH stretch in monomer 1 and monomer 7, respectively. Red points correspond to primary population receivers observed in (a) and (b) respectively. The dipole derivative correlation value, Dipcorr is defined in main text. The cavity frequency is set as 3400 cm−1 with coupling strength g = 0.006 (a.u.) for (a–d).