1996/10/08 by Udo Seifert, Julian C. Shillcock, Julian Shillcock +1 · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Bilayer #Chemical physics #Chemistry #Condensed matter physics #Geometry #Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior #Lipid bilayer #Lipid bilayer mechanics #Lipid bilayer phase behavior #Materials science #Membrane #Monolayer #Nanotechnology #Phase transition #Physics #Point reflection #Saddle #Saddle point #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies #Surfactants and Colloidal Systems #Tilt (camera) #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.77.5237
Latex file; .ps available at http://dept.physics.upenn.edu/~nelson/saddle.ps
arxiv created 1996/10/08 · openalex publication_date 1996/12/23 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Lipid bilayer membranes below their main transition have two tilt order parameters, corresponding to the two monolayers. These two tilts may be strongly coupled to membrane shape, but only weakly coupled to each other. We discuss some implications of this observation for rippled and saddle phases, bilayer tubules, and bicontinuous phases. Tilt difference introduces a length scale into the elastic theory of tilted fluid membranes. It can drive an instability of the flat phase; it also provides a simple mechanism for the spontaneous breaking of inversion symmetry seen in some recent experiments.