Modeling anisotropic elasticity of fluid membranes

Abstract

The biological membrane, which compartmentalizes the cell and its organelles, exhibit wide variety of macroscopic shapes of varying morphology and topology. A systematic understanding of the relation of membrane shapes to composition, external field, environmental conditions etc. have important biological relevance. Here we review the triangulated surface model, used in the macroscopic simulation of membranes and the associated Monte Carlo (DTMC) methods. New techniques to calculate surface quantifiers, that will facilitate the study of additional in-plane orientational degrees of freedom, has been introduced. The mere presence of a polar and nematic fields in the ordered phase drives the ground state conformations of the membrane to a cylinder and tetrahedron respectively.

This article was written as a contribution to the proceedings of NSASM10 held at MPI Dresden