358 research outputs found
New Approach on the General Shape Equation of Axisymmetric Vesicles
The general Helfrich shape equation determined by minimizing the curvature
free energy describes the equilibrium shapes of the axisymmetric lipid bilayer
vesicles in different conditions. It is a non-linear differential equation with
variable coefficients. In this letter, by analyzing the unique property of the
solution, we change this shape equation into a system of the two differential
equations. One of them is a linear differential equation. This equation system
contains all of the known rigorous solutions of the general shape equation. And
the more general constraint conditions are found for the solution of the
general shape equation.Comment: 8 pages, LaTex, submit to Mod. Phys. Lett.
Concise theory of chiral lipid membranes
A theory of chiral lipid membranes is proposed on the basis of a concise free
energy density which includes the contributions of the bending and the surface
tension of membranes, as well as the chirality and orientational variation of
tilting molecules. This theory is consistent with the previous experiments
[J.M. Schnur \textit{et al.}, Science \textbf{264}, 945 (1994); M.S. Spector
\textit{et al.}, Langmuir \textbf{14}, 3493 (1998); Y. Zhao, \textit{et al.},
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA \textbf{102}, 7438 (2005)] on self-assembled chiral
lipid membranes of DCPC. A torus with the ratio between its two
generated radii larger than is predicted from the Euler-Lagrange
equations. It is found that tubules with helically modulated tilting state are
not admitted by the Euler-Lagrange equations, and that they are less
energetically favorable than helical ripples in tubules. The pitch angles of
helical ripples are theoretically estimated to be about 0 and
35, which are close to the most frequent values 5 and
28 observed in the experiment [N. Mahajan \textit{et al.}, Langmuir
\textbf{22}, 1973 (2006)]. Additionally, the present theory can explain twisted
ribbons of achiral cationic amphiphiles interacting with chiral tartrate
counterions. The ratio between the width and pitch of twisted ribbons is
predicted to be proportional to the relative concentration difference of left-
and right-handed enantiomers in the low relative concentration difference
region, which is in good agreement with the experiment [R. Oda \textit{et al.},
Nature (London) \textbf{399}, 566 (1999)].Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure
Capture on High Curvature Region: Aggregation of Colloidal Particle Bound to Giant Phospholipid Vesicles
A very recent observation on the membrane mediated attraction and ordered
aggregation of colloidal particles bound to giant phospholipid vesicles (I.
Koltover, J. O. R\"{a}dler, C. R. Safinya, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 82},
1991(1999)) is investigated theoretically within the frame of Helfrich
curvature elasticity theory of lipid bilayer fluid membrane. Since the concave
or waist regions of the vesicle possess the highest local bending energy
density, the aggregation of colloidal beads on these places can reduce the
elastic energy in maximum. Our calculation shows that a bead in the concave
region lowers its energy . For an axisymmetrical dumbbell
vesicle, the local curvature energy density along the waist is equally of
maximum, the beads can thus be distributed freely with varying separation
distance.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures. REVte
Dynamical description of vesicle growth and shape change
We systematize and extend the description of vesicle growth and shape change
using linear nonequilibrium thermodynamics. By restricting the study to shape
changes from spheres to axisymmetric ellipsoids, we are able to give a
consistent formulation which includes the lateral tension of the vesicle
membrane. This allows us to generalize and correct a previous calculation. Our
present calculations suggest that, for small growing vesicles, a prolate
ellipsoidal shape should be favored over oblate ellipsoids, whereas for large
growing vesicles oblates should be favored over prolates. The validity of this
prediction is examined in the light of the various assumptions made in its
derivation.Comment: 6 page
Effective Area-Elasticity and Tension of Micro-manipulated Membranes
We evaluate the effective Hamiltonian governing, at the optically resolved
scale, the elastic properties of micro-manipulated membranes. We identify
floppy, entropic-tense and stretched-tense regimes, representing different
behaviors of the effective area-elasticity of the membrane. The corresponding
effective tension depends on the microscopic parameters (total area, bending
rigidity) and on the optically visible area, which is controlled by the imposed
external constraints. We successfully compare our predictions with recent data
on micropipette experiments.Comment: To be published in Phys. Rev. Let
Large deformation of spherical vesicle studied by perturbation theory and Surface evolver
With tangent angle perturbation approach the axial symmetry deformation of a
spherical vesicle in large under the pressure changes is studied by the
elasticity theory of Helfrich spontaneous curvature model.Three main results in
axial symmetry shape: biconcave shape, peanut shape, and one type of myelin are
obtained. These axial symmetry morphology deformations are in agreement with
those observed in lipsome experiments by dark-field light microscopy [Hotani,
J. Mol. Biol. 178, (1984) 113] and in the red blood cell with two thin
filaments (myelin) observed in living state (see, Bessis, Living Blood Cells
and Their Ultrastructure, Springer-Verlag, 1973). Furthermore, the biconcave
shape and peanut shape can be simulated with the help of a powerful software,
Surface Evolver [Brakke, Exp. Math. 1, 141 (1992) 141], in which the
spontaneous curvature can be easy taken into account.Comment: 16 pages, 6 EPS figures and 2 PS figure
Area-Constrained Planar Elastica
We determine the equilibria of a rigid loop in the plane, subject to the
constraints of fixed length and fixed enclosed area. Rigidity is characterized
by an energy functional quadratic in the curvature of the loop. We find that
the area constraint gives rise to equilibria with remarkable geometrical
properties: not only can the Euler-Lagrange equation be integrated to provide a
quadrature for the curvature but, in addition, the embedding itself can be
expressed as a local function of the curvature. The configuration space is
shown to be essentially one-dimensional, with surprisingly rich structure.
Distinct branches of integer-indexed equilibria exhibit self-intersections and
bifurcations -- a gallery of plots is provided to highlight these findings.
Perturbations connecting equilibria are shown to satisfy a first order ODE
which is readily solved. We also obtain analytical expressions for the energy
as a function of the area in some limiting regimes.Comment: 23 pages, several figures. Version 2: New title. Changes in the
introduction, addition of a new section with conclusions. Figure 14 corrected
and one reference added. Version to appear in PR
Kinetic pathways of multi-phase surfactant systems
The relaxation following a temperature quench of two-phase (lamellar and
sponge phase) and three-phase (lamellar, sponge and micellar phase) samples,
has been studied in an SDS/octanol/brine system. In the three-phase case we
have observed samples that are initially mainly sponge phase with lamellar and
micellar phase on the top and bottom respectively. Upon decreasing temperature
most of the volume of the sponge phase is replaced by lamellar phase. During
the equilibriation we have observed three regimes of behaviour within the
sponge phase: (i) disruption in the sponge texture, then (ii) after the sponge
phase homogenises there is a lamellar nucleation regime and finally (iii) a
bizarre plume connects the lamellar phase with the micellar phase. The
relaxation of the two-phase sample proceeds instead in two stages. First
lamellar drops nucleate in the sponge phase forming a onion `gel' structure.
Over time the lamellar structure compacts while equilibriating into a two phase
lamellar/sponge phase sample. We offer possible explanatioins for some of these
observations in the context of a general theory for phase kinetics in systems
with one fast and one slow variable.Comment: 1 textfile, 20 figures (jpg), to appear in PR
Effective field theory approach to Casimir interactions on soft matter surfaces
We utilize an effective field theory approach to calculate Casimir
interactions between objects bound to thermally fluctuating fluid surfaces or
interfaces. This approach circumvents the complicated constraints imposed by
such objects on the functional integration measure by reverting to a point
particle representation. To capture the finite size effects, we perturb the
Hamiltonian by DH that encapsulates the particles' response to external fields.
DH is systematically expanded in a series of terms, each of which scales
homogeneously in the two power counting parameters: \lambda \equiv R/r, the
ratio of the typical object size (R) to the typical distance between them (r),
and delta=kB T/k, where k is the modulus characterizing the surface energy. The
coefficients of the terms in DH correspond to generalized polarizabilities and
thus the formalism applies to rigid as well as deformable objects.
Singularities induced by the point particle description can be dealt with using
standard renormalization techniques. We first illustrate and verify our
approach by re-deriving known pair forces between circular objects bound to
films or membranes. To demonstrate its efficiency and versatility, we then
derive a number of new results: The triplet interactions present in these
systems, a higher order correction to the film interaction, and general scaling
laws for the leading order interaction valid for objects of arbitrary shape and
internal flexibility.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Fluid-membrane tethers: minimal surfaces and elastic boundary layers
Thin cylindrical tethers are common lipid bilayer membrane structures,
arising in situations ranging from micromanipulation experiments on artificial
vesicles to the dynamic structure of the Golgi apparatus. We study the shape
and formation of a tether in terms of the classical soap-film problem, which is
applied to the case of a membrane disk under tension subject to a point force.
A tether forms from the elastic boundary layer near the point of application of
the force, for sufficiently large displacement. Analytic results for various
aspects of the membrane shape are given.Comment: 12 page
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