title: Raft formation in lipid bilayers coupled to curvature.
abstract: We present computer simulations of a membrane in which the local composition is coupled to the local membrane curvature. At high temperatures (i.e., above the temperature of macroscopic phase separation), finite-sized transient domains are observed, reminiscent of lipid rafts. The domain size is in the range of hundred nanometers, and set by the membrane elastic properties. These findings are in line with the notion of the membrane as a curvature-induced microemulsion. At low temperature, the membrane phase separates. The transition to the phase-separated regime is continuous and belongs to the two-dimensional Ising universality class when the coupling to curvature is weak, but becomes first-order for strong curvature-composition coupling.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Theoretical Physics, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany. Electronic address: sadeghi@theorie.physik.uni-goettingen.de.
authors.forename: Sina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sadeghi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Theoretical Physics, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Institute of Theoretical Physics, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Richard L C
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Vink
mesh_terms: D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D021962:Membrane Microdomains / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D044367:Phase Transition
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers