Abstract:
Membranes in thermal equilibrium are well known to exhibit Brownian motion type shape fluctuations. Membranes containing active force centers -- such as chemically active membrane proteins -- suffer additional non-equilibrium shape fluctuations due to the activity of these force centers. We demonstrate, using scaling arguments, that non-equilibrium shape fluctuations are in general greatly amplified by the presence of a nearby wall or membrane due to the absence of a fluctuation-dissipation theorem. For adhesive membranes, this fluctuation magnification effect may facilitate the establishment of bonding. For non-adhesive membranes, fluctuation magnification produces a long-range repulsive pressure which can exceed the well known Helfrich repulsion due to purely thermal fluctuations.
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Received: 1 September 1997 / Accepted: 3 December 1997
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Prost, J., Manneville, JB. & Bruinsma, R. Fluctuation-magnification of non-equilibrium membranes near a wall. Eur. Phys. J. B 1, 465–480 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050209
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050209