Kerr constant of vesicle-like droplets.
The Kerr effect on vesicle-likedroplets (vesicles, cells or emulsion droplets) is described. Wegive a derivation of the Kerr constant for a dielectric fluiddroplet immersed in another fluid, assuming that the droplet in aweak electric field becomes a prolate ellipsoid. The Kerr constantis evaluated also for a droplet covered by a membrane of nonzerothickness. Comparing the theory with the experiment on dropletmicroemulsions from the literature, the bending rigidity constantof the surface layer is estimated.
Department of Biophysics, Institute of Physics, P.J. Šafárik University, Jesenná 5, 041 54 Košice, Slovakia.
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M
Richterová
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Lisý
Kerr effect; interfacial elasticity; microemulsion droplets; polarizability; refractive indices; spherical membranes; surface bending rigidities; vesicles