2007/03/07 by Sarasij R. C., R. C. Sarasij, C., Sarasij R. +2
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) #Theoretical and Computational Physics #cond-mat.soft #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0703182
15 pages, 10 figures
arxiv created 2007/03/07 · openalex publication_date 2007/03/07 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We study the shape and texture of finite domains comprising chiral/achiral molecules carrying a tilt field embedded in a 2-dimensional surface. Using a combination of simulations and \it exact variational calculations, we determine the equilibrium (mean field) phase diagram in the achiral and chiral cases. We find a variety of novel shapes and textures including a \it spontaneously broken chiral texture when the molecules are achiral. We show that chiral tilt-domains nucleating in a region of two-phase coexistence, \it repel each other, thereby preventing coalescence and further growth. Our work has implications for tilt texture domains in phospholipid monolayers and giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs), nucleating domains of Sm-C^* in Sm-A films, and chiral emulsions in Sm-A films.