1992/11/17 by Philip Nelson, Thomas Powers · 3 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Bilayer #Classical mechanics #Condensed matter physics #Coupling (piping) #Flexural rigidity #Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications #Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior #Materials science #Membrane #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Renormalization group #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies #String (physics) #Tension (geology) #Theoretical physics #Thermal fluctuations #Thermodynamics #cond-mat #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.69.3409
published as Phys.Rev.Lett.69:3409,1992 · 11 pages, UPR-518T (This replaced version has fonts not used removed.)
arxiv created 1992/11/17 · openalex publication_date 1992/12/07 · arxiv updated 2016/08/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Statistical ensembles of flexible two-dimensional fluid membranes arise naturally in the description of many physical systems. Typically, one encounters such systems in a regime of low tension but high stiffness against bending, which is just the opposite of the regime described by the Polyakov string. We study a class of couplings between membrane shape and in-plane order which break 3-space parity invariance. Remarkably there is only one such allowed coupling (up to boundary terms); this term will be present for any lipid bilayer composed of tilted chiral molecules. We calculate the renormalization-group behavior of this relevant coupling in a simplified model and show how thermal fluctuations effectively reduce it in the infrared.