Curvature correction to the mobility of fluid membrane inclusions

• Published in: The European physical journal. E, Soft matter and biological physics Vol. 39; no. 10; pp. 96 - 6
• Main Author: Daniels, D. R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.10.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biological and Medical Physics; Biophysics; Complex Fluids and Microfluidics; Complex Systems; Condensed matter physics; Diffusion coefficient; Nanotechnology; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Polymer Sciences; Regular Article; Soft and Granular Matter; Surfaces and Interfaces; Thin Films; Living systems: Biological Matter
• ISSN: 1292-8941; 1292-895X
• DOI: 10.1140/epje/i2016-16096-3

. Using rigorous low-Reynolds-number hydrodynamic theory on curved surfaces, we provide, via a Stokeslet-type approach, a general and concise expression for the leading-order curvature correction to the canonical, planar, Saffman-Delbrück value of the diffusion constant for a small inclusion embedded in an arbitrarily (albeit weakly) curved fluid membrane. In order to demonstrate the efficacy and utility of this general result, we apply our theory to the specific case of calculating the diffusion coefficient of a locally curvature inducing membrane inclusion. By including both the effects of inclusion and membrane elasticity, as well as their respective thermal shape fluctuations, excellent agreement is found with recently published experimental data on the surface tension dependent mobility of membrane bound inclusions. Graphical abstract