Related papers: Membrane tension lowering induced by protein activ…
In living matter, shape fluctuations induced by acto-myosin are usually studied in vitro via reconstituted gels, whose properties are controlled by changing the concentrations of actin, myosin and cross-linkers. Such an approach…
In some instances, e.g. near phase transitions, thermodynamic fluctuations become macroscopically relevant, and relative amplitudes grow far above the standard $N^{-1/2}$ scale, with $N$ the number of particles. Such large fluctuations are…
Fluid membranes made out of lipid bilayers are the fundamental separation structure in eukaryotic cells. Many physiological processes rely on dramatic shape and topological changes (e.g. fusion, fission) of fluid membrane systems. Fluidity…
Fluctuating hydrodynamics provides a framework connecting mesoscopic fluctuations with macroscopic transport behavior. To bridge mesoscopic and macroscopic transport from microscopic dynamics, we introduce a wavenumber-dependent viscosity,…
Despite the great observational success of the standard cosmological model some discrepancies in the inferred parameter constraints have manifested among a number of cosmological data sets. These include a tension between the expansion rate…
In this paper we review simulation and experimental studies of thermal capillary wave fluctuations as an ideal means for probing the underlying disjoining pressure and surface tensions, and more generally, fine details of the Interfacial…
Cellular membranes are elastic lipid bilayers that contain a variety of proteins, including ion channels, receptors, and scaffolding proteins. These proteins are known to diffuse in the plane of the membrane and to influence the bending of…
We present experimental and theoretical analysis of quantum fluctuation in a vacuum field in the presence of orthogonal linearly polarized pump field propagating through a Rb vapor cell. Previously reported theoretical and experimental…
Microswimmers and active colloids often move in confined systems, including those involving interfaces. Such interfaces, especially at the microscale, may deform in response to the stresses of the flow created by the active particle. We…
The effect of molecule size (excluded volume) and the range of interaction on the surface tension, phase diagram and nucleation properties of a model globular protein is investigated using a combinations of Monte Carlo simulations and…
During the aging of the red-blood cell, or under conditions of extreme echinocytosis, membrane is shed from the cell plasma membrane in the form of nano-vesicles. We propose that this process is the result of the self-adaptation of the…
Membrane tubulation is a ubiquitous process that occurs both at the plasma membrane and on the membranes of intracellular organelles. These tubulation events are known to be mediated by forces applied on the membrane either due to motor…
We generalize the predictions for attractions between over-all neutral surfaces induced by charge fluctuations/correlations to non-uniform systems that include dielectric discontinuities, as is the case for mixed charged lipid membranes in…
We experimentally study density fluctuations and energy spectra of bulk \textit{E. coli} suspensions of different concentrations. Our results verify the predicted scaling law of giant number fluctuations in three-dimensional (3D) wet active…
We discuss the physical mechanisms that promote or suppress the nucleation of a fluid-filled lumen inside a cell assembly or a tissue. We discuss lumen formation in a continuum theory of tissue material properties in which the tissue is…
Molecular rotors form twisted conformations upon photoexcitation, with their fluorescent relaxation time serving as a measure of viscosity. They have been used to assess membrane viscosities but yield higher values compared to other…
We study a membrane tube with unidirectional ion pumps driving an osmotic pressure difference. A pressure driven peristaltic instability is identified, qualitatively distinct from similar tension-driven Rayleigh type instabilities on…
Two-dimensional crystalline membranes have recently been realized experimentally in such systems as graphene and molybdenum disulfide, sparking a resurgence in interest in their statistical properties. Thermal fluctuations can significantly…
The nonequilibrium activity taking place in a living cell can be monitored with a tracer embedded in the medium. While microrheology experiments based on optical manipulation of such probes have become increasingly standard, we put forward…
How long a fluid membrane vesicle stressed with a steady ramp of micropipette last before rupture? Or conversely, how high the surface tension should be to rupture a membrane? To answer these challenging questions we have developed a…