Mechanics and Physics of Lipid Bilayers
David Steigmann (U.C. Berkeley)
SES Medal Lecture
Mon 8:00:00 AM
Salomon 101
Continuum theory for lipid bilayers, regarded as two-dimensional liquid-crystal films, is developed in detail. Material symmetry considerations lead to the canonical form of the relevant free energy function in terms of the mean and Gaussian curvatures of the film. Various extensions of the basic theory, and associated boundary value problems, are described. These include phase equilibria, diffusion of transmembrane proteins and intra-membrane viscous flow.