Revision 2

Accepted · cosmetic change · record

Changes against revision 1:

Title · changed: Revision 1: Do cavity-coupled vibrations change thermal reaction rates; Revision 2: Do cavity-coupled vibrations change thermal reaction rates?
Plain: Experiments report that tuning a mirror cavity to a molecular vibration speeds up or slows down a reaction by factors of several without shining any light. Whether this effect is real and what causes it is unresolved.
Precise: In Fabry-Perot microcavities under vibrational strong coupling (Rabi splitting of order $100\, \mathrm{cm}^{-1}$ for a reactant vibration) and no external pumping, determine whether thermal rate constants $k(T)$ differ from those of identical out-of-cavity or detuned-cavity controls beyond errors from heating, concentration and mixing, and if so identify the mechanism. An answer is a reproducible rate change with controls plus a quantitative theory, or a demonstration that reported changes come from artifacts.
Settled by: Multi-laboratory measurements with blinded cavity tuning, in situ temperature monitoring and matched controls, combined with a theory that predicts the sign and size of the change.
Kind: phenomenon
Answer type: mechanism
References: (empty)
Literature status: contested
Status note: In the literature checked (through 2025) positive reports and failed replications coexist and no mechanism is accepted.
Posed since: 2016

Decisions