Modeling anisotropic elasticity of fluid membranes

Abstract

The biological membrane, which compartmentalizes the cell and its organelles, exhibits wide variety of macroscopic shapes of varying morphology and topology. A systematic understanding of the relation of membrane shapes to composition, external field, environmental conditions, etc. have important biological relevance. Here we review the triangulated surface model, used in the macroscopic simulation of membranes and the associated DTMC methods. New techniques to calculate surface quantifiers, that will facilitate the study of additional in-plane orientational degrees of freedom, has been introduced. The mere presence of a polar and nematic fields, in the ordered phase, drives the ground state conformations of the membrane to a cylinder and tetrahedron, respectively.