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Generalized resonance energy transfer theory: Applications to vibrational energy flow in optical cavities

A general rate theory for resonance energy transfer is formulated to incorporate any degrees of freedom (e.g., rotation, vibration, exciton, and polariton) as well as coherently-coupled composite states. The compact rate expression allows us to establish useful relationships: (i) detailed balance condition when the donor and acceptor are at the same temperature; (ii) proportionality to the overlap between donor's emission and acceptor's absorption spectra; (iii) scaling with the effective coherent size, i.e., the number of coherently coupled molecules; (iv) spatial and orientational dependences as derived from the interaction potential. When applied to cavity-assisted vibrational energy transfer, the rate formalism provides an intuitive and quantitative explanation of intriguing phenomena such as cooperativity, resonance, and nonlinearity in the collective vibrational strong coupling regime, as demonstrated in recent simulations.