Thermal undulations of lipid bilayers relax by intermonolayer friction at submicrometer length scales

The time correlation functions of the thermal undulations of a lipid membrane have been studied by molecular dynamics simulations of a coarse-grained bilayer model. We observe a double-exponential decay, with relaxation rates in good agreement with the theory by Seifert and Langer, [Europhys. Lett....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2006-05, Vol.96 (17), p.178302-178302, Article 178302
Main Authors: Shkulipa, S A, den Otter, W K, Briels, W J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Friction
Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
Lipid Bilayers - chemistry
Mathematics
Membrane Fluidity
Rheology
Surface Properties
Temperature
Time Factors
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Summary:The time correlation functions of the thermal undulations of a lipid membrane have been studied by molecular dynamics simulations of a coarse-grained bilayer model. We observe a double-exponential decay, with relaxation rates in good agreement with the theory by Seifert and Langer, [Europhys. Lett. 23, 71 (1993)]. Intermonolayer friction resulting from local velocity differences between the two monolayers is shown to be the dominant dissipative mechanism for fluctuations with wave lengths below approximately -0.1 microm.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.96.178302