Abstract
The Canham--Helfrich free-energy density for a lipid bilayer has drawn considerable attention. Aside from the mean and Gaussian curvatures, this free-energy density involves a spontaneous mean-curvature that encompasses information regarding the preferred, natural shape of the lipid bilayer. We use a straightforward microphysical argument to derive the Canham--Helfrich free-energy density. Our derivation (i) provides a justification for the common assertion that spontaneous curvature originates primarily from asymmetry between the leaflets comprising a bilayer and (ii) furnishes expressions for the splay and saddle-splay moduli in terms of derivatives of the underlying potential.
Connections
Explore this paper’s authors, topics and related work.
Building this map preview
BZPEER is loading the nearby papers, people, topics and institutions for this page.
Reviews 0
Write a review
No reviews yet.
Discussion 0
Add a comment
No comments yet.