Related papers: Flexoelectricity and the Entropic Force between Fl…
A continuum electromechanical model is proposed to describe the membrane curvature induced by electrostatic interactions in a solvated protein-membrane system. The model couples the macroscopic strain energy of membrane and the…
We analyse here the problem of large deformation of dielectric elastomeric membranes under coupled electromechanical loading. Extremely large deformations (enclosed volume changes of 100 times and greater) of a toroidal membrane are studied…
The recent discovery of ferroelectric nematic liquid crystalline phases marks a major breakthrough in soft matter research. An intermediate phase, often observed between the nonpolar and the ferroelectric nematic phase, shows a distinct…
We recently introduced a model of an asymmetric dumbbell made of two hydrodynamically coupled subunits as a minimal model for a macromolecular complex, in order to explain the observation of enhanced diffusion of catalytically active…
In the framework of a continuum theory, it is shown that the direct flexoelectric response of a finite sample essentially depends on the surface polarization energy, even in the thermodynamic limit where the body size tends to infinity. It…
Biological macromolecules have complex and non-trivial energy landscapes, endowing them a unique conformational adaptability and diversity in function. Hence, understanding the processes of elasticity and dissipation at the nanoscale is…
A phenomenological Landau elasticity for the shape, dilation, and lipid-tilt of bilayer membranes is developed. The shape mode couples with the sum of the monolayers' tilt, while the dilation mode couples with the difference of the…
The organization of live cells to tissues is associated with the mechanical interaction between cells, which is mediated through their elastic environment. We model cells as spherical active force dipoles surrounded by an infinite elastic…
Living cells respond to mechanical changes in the matrix surrounding them by applying contractile forces that are in turn transmitted to distant cells. We calculate the mechanical work that each cell performs in order to deform the matrix,…
We consider the problem of Coulomb drag resistance in bilayers of electron liquids with spontaneously broken time-reversal symmetry. In the hydrodynamic regime, the viscosity tensor of such fluids has a nonvanishing odd component. In this…
We study the kinematics and dynamics of a highly compliant membrane disk placed head-on in a uniform flow. With increasing flow velocity, the membrane deforms nonlinearly into increasingly parachute-like shapes. These aerodynamically…
Ferroelectric materials are characterized by the presence of an electric dipole that can be reversed by application of an external electric field, a feature that is exploited in ferroelectric memories. All ferroelectrics are piezoelectric,…
The wrapping equilibria of one and two adsorbing cylinders are studied along a semi-flexible filament (polymer) due to the interplay between elastic rigidity and short-range adhesive energy between the cylinder and the filament. We show…
We propose a simple mathematical model to describe the mechanical relaxation of cells within a curved epithelial tissue layer represented by an arbitrary curve in two-dimensional space. This model generalises previous one-dimensional models…
Flexoelectricity is characterised by the coupling of the gradient of the deformation and the electrical polarization in a dielectric material. A novel micromorphic approach is presented to accommodate the resulting higher-order gradient…
Transport of molecules across membrane channels is investigated theoretically using exactly solvable one-dimensional discrete-state stochastic models. An interaction between molecules and membrane pores is modeled via a set of binding sites…
The influence of an electric field on a poorly conductive membrane such as a lipid bilayer is studied theoretically. The unbalanced electric stress created by an ionic current across a non-perfectly flat membrane gives rise to a…
We analyse the thermal fluctuations of magnetization textures in two stray field coupled elements, forming mesospins. To this end, the energy landscape associated with the thermal dynamics of the textures is mapped out and asymmetric energy…
Polar nematic liquid crystals have two special features, compared with conventional nematic liquid crystals. First, because of flexoelectricity, the combination of polar order and splay reduces the free energy. Second, because of…
Elastic membranes composed of paramagnetic beads offer the possibility of assembling versatile actuators operated autonomously by external magnetic fields. Here we develop a theoretical framework to study shapes of such paramagnetic…